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EXAMPLES   AND    THEIR    SOLUTIONS 


COTTOIN 

PICKERS 

COTTON   CARDS 

DRAWING  ROLLS 

RAILWAY  HEADS  AND  DRAWING  FRAMES 

COMBERS 

FLY  FRAMES 


SCRANTON: 
INTERNATIONAL   TEXTBOOK   COMPANY 

TO 


Copyrigrht,  1906,  by  International  Textbook  Company. 


Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London. 


Cotton:  Copyright,  1901.  by  Christopher  Parkinson  Brook-S.  Copyright,  1905.  by 
International  Textbook   Company.     Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London. 

Pickers,  Part  1:  Copyright,  1898,  1899,  by  Christopher  Parkinson  Brooks.  Copy- 
right, 1905,  by  International  Textbook  Company.  Entered  at  Stationers' 
Hall,  London. 

Pickers,  Part  2:  Copyright,  1899,  by  Christopher  Parkinson  Brooks.  Copyright, 
190.5,  by  International  Textbook  Company.  Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall, 
London. 

Cotton  Cards:  Copyright,  1899,  by  Christopher  Parkinson  Brooks.  Copyright, 
1905,  by  International  Textbook  Company.  Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall, 
London. 

Drawing  Rolls:    Copyright,  1899,  by  Christopher  Parkinson  Brooks-    Copyright, 

1903,  by  International  Textbook   Company.     Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall, 

London. 
Railway  Heads  and  Drawing  Frames:    Copyright,  1899.  by  Christopher  Parkinson 

Brooks.    Copyright,  1905,  by  International  Textbook  Company.    Entered  at 

Stationers'  Hall,  London. 
Combers:    Copyright,  1899,  by  Christopher  Parkinson  Brooks.    Copyright,  1905, 

by  International  Textbook  Company.    Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London. 
Fly  Frames:    Copyright.  1899,  by  Christopher  Parkinson   Brooks.    Copyright, 

1905,  by  International  Textbook  Company.    Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall, 

London. 


All  rights  reserved. 


PrintkI)  in  the   United  States. 


PREFACE. 


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these  Schools,  in  order  to  afford  a  clear  understanding  of 
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The  only  requirement  for  admission  to  any  of  the  courses 
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in  the  one  he  now  pursues.  Furthermore,  he  wishes  to 
obtain  a  good  Avorking  knowledge  of  the  subjects  treated  in 
the  shortest  time  and  in  the  most  direct  manner  possible. 

iii 


iv  PREFACE 

In  meeting  these  requirements,  we  have  produced  a  set  of 
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limited  to  the  simplest  principles  of  arithmetic  and  mensu- 
ration, and  in  no  case  is  any  greater  knowledge  of  mathe- 
matics needed  than  the  simplest  elementary  principles  of 
algebra,  geometry,  and  .  trigonometry,  with  a  thorough, 
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To  effect  this  result,  derivations  of  rules  and  formulas  are 
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regarding  how,  when,  and  under  what  circumstances  any 
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almost  without  limit.  The  illustrations  have  in  all  cases 
been  adapted  to  the  requirements  of  the  text,  and  projec- 
tions and  sections  or  outline,  partially  shaded,  or  full-shaded 
perspectives  have  been  used,  according  to  which  will  best 
produce  the  desired  results.  Half-tones  have  been  used 
rather  sparingly,  except  in  those  cases  where  the  general 
effect  is  desired  rather  than  the  actual  details. 

It  is  obvious  that  books  prepared  along  the  lines  men- 
tioned must  not  only  be  clear  and  concise  beyond  anything 
heretofore  attempted,  but  they  must  also  possess  unequaled 
value  for  reference  purposes.  They  not  only  give  the  maxi- 
mum of  information  in  a  minimum  space,  but  this  infor- 
mation is  so  ingeniously  arranged  and  correlated,  and  the 


PREFACE  V 

indexes  are  so  full  and  complete,  that  it  can  at  once  be 
made  available  to  the  reader.  The  numerous  examples  and 
explanatory  remarks,  together  with  the  absence  of  long 
demonstrations  and  abstruse  mathematical  calculations,  are 
of  great  assistance  in  helping  one  to  select  the  proper  for- 
mula, method,  or  process  and  in  teaching  him  how  and 
when  it  should  be  used. 

Six  of  the  volumes  comprising  this  library  are  devoted  to 
the  subject  of  textile  manufacturing.  This  volume,  the  first 
of  the  series,  considers  the  cotton  fiber  and  the  processes 
through  which  cotton  fibers  have  to  pass  before  they  can  be 
spun  into  yarn.  After  describing  the  growth,  characteristics, 
and  the  various  classes  of  cotton,  together  with  the  action  of 
the  cotton  gin,  bale  breakers,  and  pickers,  consideration  is 
given  to  the  judging  and  mixing  of  cotton.  Next,  the 
important  subject  of  cotton  cards  is  taken  up;  a  detailed 
description  is  given  of  card  clothing  and  the  action  of  the 
various  parts  of  a  cotton  card.  Several  types  of  cotton  cards 
are  described,  also  the  grinding  and  setting  of  these  machines. 
Drawing  rolls,  which  play  such  important  parts  in  all  these 
processes,  are  considered  in  detail,  as  regards  both  construc- 
tion and  setting.  Then  come  drawing  frames  with  their 
various  stop-motions,  combers,  and  finally  fly  frames.  Of 
the  latter,  English  as  well  as  American  types  are  shown  and 
detailed  information  presented  as  regards  calculations  for 
producing  the  required  hanks  and  twists. 

The  method  of  numbering  the  pages,  cuts,  articles,  etc.  is 
such  that  each  subject  or  part,  when  the  subject  is  divided 
into  two  or  more  parts,  is  complete  in  itself;  hence.,  in  order 
to  make  the  index  intelligible,  it  was  necessary  to  give  each 
subject  or  part  a  number.  This  number  is  placed  at  the  top 
of  each  page,  on  the  headline,  opposite  the  page  number; 
and  to  distinguish  it  from  the  page  number  it  is  preceded  by 
the  printer's  section  mark  (§).  Consequently,  a  reference 
such  as  §  16,  page  26,  will  be  readily  found  by  looking  along 
the  inside  edges  of  the  headlines  until  §  16  is  found,  and 
then  through  §  16  until  page  26  is  found. 

International  Textbook  Company 


CONTENTS 


Cotton                                                                      Section  Page 

Cotton  Cultivation 14  1 

Structure  of  the  Cotton  Fiber 14  5 

Cottons  of  the  World      14  9 

Cotton  Used  in  America 14  12 

Tables  of  Cotton  Characteristics      ....  14  16 

Ginning  and  Baling 14  16 

Marketing  Cotton 14  27 

Selection  and  Classification 14  27 

Cotton  Markets  of  the  United  States       .    .  14  32 

Exportation  of  Cotton 14  34 

Pickers 

Yarn-Preparation  Processes 16  1 

Processes  Employed  for  the  Production  of 

Cotton  Yarn 16  2. 

Cotton  Mixing 16  6 

Bale  Breaker 16  10 

Picker  Rooms 16  13 

Arrangement  of  Machines 16  14 

Feeding  and  Opening 16  17 

Cotton  Pickers      17  1 

Construction  and  Operation  of  the  Breaker 

Picker 17  5 

Intermediate  and  Finisher  Picker     ....  17  23 

Measuring  Motion 17  32 

Adjustments      17  34 

Gearing 17  37 

Care  of  Pickers 17  39 

iii 


iv  CONTENTS 

Cotton  Cards                                                        Sectioji  Page 

Card  Construction 18  3 

The  Revolving-Top  Flat  Card 18  3 

Gearing 18  33 

Speed  Calculations '.    .  18  39 

Former  Methods  of  Card  Construction  .    ,  19  1 

Stationary-Top  Flat  Card 19  2 

Roller-and-Clearer  Card 19  5 

Double  Carding 19  8 

Card  Clothing 19  9 

Teeth 19  11 

Method  of  Clothing  Cards 19  22 

Care  of  Cards 19  29 

Stripping 19  32 

Grinding 19  36 

Setting 19  56 

Management  of  Room 19  70 

Drawing  Rolls 

Common  Rolls 20  1 

Top  Rolls 20  4 

Covering  Top  Rolls 20  6 

Varnishing 20  13 

Metallic  Rolls 20  15 

Setting  and  Weighting  Rolls 20  18 

Rules  Governing  Setting 20  18 

Weight-Relieving  Motions     .......  20  32 

Clearers  and  Traverse  Motions 20  33 

Railway  Heads  and  Drawing  Frames 

Railway  Heads 21  1 

Principal  Parts  of  the  Railway  Head  ...  21  3 

Drawing  Frames      21  17 

Gearing 21  33 

Management  of  Drawing  Frames     ....  21  35 

Combers 

Combing  Equipment 22  1 

Sliver-Lap  Machines 22  3 


CONTENTS  V 

Combers — Contimied                                               Section  Page 

Ribbon-Lap  Machines 22  8 

Single-Nip  Comber 22  13 

Combing  Operation  by  the  Half  Lap    .    .  22  22 

Piecing-Up  Motion 22  25 

Combing  by  the  Top  Comb 22  34 

Delivery  of  the  Stock 22  37 

Gearing 22  41 

Variations  in  Construction 22  45 

Double-Nip  Comber    .    .    , 22  47 

Setting  and  Timing 23  1 

Setting 23  2 

Timing .'23  17 

.Management  of  the  Comber  Room      ...  23  25 

Fly  Frames 

General  Construction  of  Fly  Frames  ...  24  1 

The  Slubber      24  4 

Passage  of  the  Stock 24  4 

Method  of  Inserting  Twist 24  16 

Winding  the  Roving  on  the  Bobbin    ...  24  17 

Gearing 24  24 

Dimensions  of  Fly  Frames 24  27 

Principal  Motions  of  Fly  Frames     ....  25  1 

The  Combs 25  13 

Builder  Motions 25  14 

American  Type  of  Builder 25  16 

English  Type  of  Builder 25  20 

Methods  of  Driving  Bobbin  Shafts      ...  25  22 

Stop-Motions 25  26 

Creel 25  28 

Management  of  Fly  Frames      26  1 

Starting  Fly  Frames 26  9 

Care  of  Fly  Frames 26  15 

Common  Defects 26  21 

Sizing 26  23 


COTTON 


COTTON   CULTIVATION 


INTRODUCTION 

1.  Principal  Species. — Cotton  is  a  vegetable  fiber — 
the  fruit  of  a  plant  belonging  to  the  order  of  the  Malvaceae, 
to  which  belong  the  mallow,  the  hollyhock,  and  the  okra. 
The  cotton  plant  belongs  to  the  genus  Gossypiiini,  and  the 
number  of  species  from  a  botanical  point  of  view  is  variously 
stated  as  from  four  to  eighty-eight,  according  to  different 
botanists.  The  principal  species  of  the  cotton  plant  cultivated 
for  commercial  purposes  are:  Gossypiiim  herbaceian,  Gossypiiim 
arboreum,  Gossypiuvi  hirsutum,  and  Gossyphun  Barbadense. 

The  species  known  as  Gossypiiim  lierbaceuin  grows 
from  2  to  6  feet  high  and  is  found  native  or  exotic  in 
Northern  Africa  and  in  Asia;  it  is  also  largely  cultivated  in 
the  United  States  of  America. 

The  Gossypiiini  arboreuni  grows  to  the  height  of  15  or 
20  feet,  whence  it  derives  the  name  of  tree  cotton.  The 
seeds  are  covered  with  a  short  green  fiber.  While  the  plant 
is  found  in  Asia,  it  is  most  largely  cultivated  in  Central  and 
South  America. 

The  Gossypiiini  liirsiitiini  is  a  shrubby  plant,  its  maxi- 
mum height  being  about  6  feet.  The  young  pods  are  hairy; 
the  seeds  numerous,  free,  and  covered  with  firmly  adhering 
green  down  under  the  long  white  wool. 

The  Gossypiuni  Barbadense  attains  a  height  of  from 
5  to  10  feet.  The  seeds  of  this  plant  are  black  and  smooth 
and  the  fiber  the  longest  known  to  commerce.     The  name  is 

Far  notice  of  copyright,  see  page  immediately  following  the  title  page 
HI 


2  COTTON  §  14 

derived  from  the  fact  that  the  plant  is  a  native  of  the  Barbados, 
or  has  been  cultivated  there  for  a  long  time.  The  sea-island 
cotton  plant  of  the  United  States  belongs  to  this  species. 

Cotton  fiber  is  known  to  commerce  under  the  simple  name  of 
cotton  in  English-speaking  countries,  although  by  some  people 
it  is  spoken  of  as  cotton  wool.  Its  German  name  is  baum-wolle; 
in  French,  its  name  is  coton;  in  Spanish,  it  is  called  algodoii. 

2.  Growth  aud  Development. — In  cultivating  cotton 
in  the  United  States,  the  time  of  planting  the  seed  varies 
according  to  the  latitude  of  the  district  in  question,  but 
occurs  in  April  in  the  majority  of  districts.  In  some  of  the 
favored  districts  of  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Texas,  where 
the  season  is  abnormally  long,  the  seed  is  planted  in  the  latter 
part  of  March.  In  the  heart  of  the  cotton  belt,  April  1  is 
accepted  as  a  suitable  date;  in  North  and  South  Carolina  and 
Tennessee  it  is  considered  unwise  to  plant  before  April  15; 
while  in  the  extreme  northern  edge  of  the  belt,  as  in  Virginia, 
planting  is  deferred  to  the  last  days  of  April  or  early  in  May. 

Germination  occurs  rapidly  after  the  sowing  of  the  seed, 
the  first  appearance  of  the  plant  above  the  ground  being 
from  4  to  14  days  after  sowing.  From  the  germination 
period  until  the  middle  of  the  summer  the  stalk  and  foliage 
of  the  plant  are  developed  until  the  plant  attains  its  max- 
imum size;  during  this  period  hot,  humid  weather  with  fre- 
quent showers  is  favorable.  From  the  middle  of  summer 
and  onwards  the  bearing  season  of  the  plant  occurs,  when 
more  heat  and  less  moisture  are  desirable. 

Usually  about  40  days  after  the  plant  shows  above  the 
ground  there  appears  the  first  square,  or  bud.  From  the 
formation  of  this  bud  24  to  30  days  elapse  before  the  appear- 
ance of  the  flower.  The  flower  on  the  first  day  of  the  open- 
ing of  the  bud  is  yellowish  white  and  has  five  petals.  One 
peculiarity  of  the  cotton  plant  is  in  the  change  of  color  of 
the  flower.  This,  which  on  the  first  day  is  of  a  shade  vary- 
ing from  a  dull  white  to  a  yellow,  is  found  on  the  second  day 
to  be  of  a  distinctly  pink  or  reddish  hue;  the  flower  drops  off 
on  the  succeeding,  or  third,  day. 


§  14  COTTON  3 

After  the  petals  fall,  there  remains  the  small  boll  envel- 
oped in  the  calyx;  this  develops  until  it  becomes  about  the 
shape  and  size  of  an  egg,  and  finally  bursts  from  50  to  60  days 
after  the  appearance  of  the  flower. 

When  the  boll  bursts,  it  exposes  from  three  to  five  cells 
divided  by   membranous  walls;    each  cell    contains    seeds, 


Pig.  1 


which  are  attached  by  filaments  to  the  membrane  of  the  boll. 
The  filaments  ultimately  disappear,  leaving  the  seed  loose 
in  the  cavity  and  covered  with  cotton.  Each  seed  is  entirely 
enveloped   by  the  cotton  fibers    attached   to   it  just  as   the 


COTTON 


§14 


human  hair  is  attached  to  the  head.  The  seeds  vary  in  number 
from  thirty-two  to  thirty-six  in  each  pod,  or  boll.  The  view 
at  a,  Fig.  1,  shows  an  empty  pod,  or  capsule;  b  is  the  seed 
cotton  out  of  one  cavity  of  the  pod  just  as  it  appears  after  it 

has  been  removed  by 
the  fingers  of  the  cot- 
ton picker;  c  shows 
the  individual  seeds 
and  fibers  of  which 
the  mass  b  is  com- 
posed. The  next 
view,  Fig.  2,  is  a 
reproduction  of  sec- 
tions of  these  seeds 
with  the  fibers  radi- 
ating in  all  directions, 
each  attached  at  one 
end  to  the  seed.  Bot- 
anists differ  as  to  the 
exact  cause  of  the 
bursting  of  the  boll, 
but  it  is  probably  due  to  the  increased  space  occupied  by  the 
fiber  as  it  ripens  and  dries  and  the  contraction  and  splitting 
of  the  pod  from  the  same  cause. 


Fig.  2 


3.  The  operations  of  cotton  culture  on  land  that  has  been 
previously  cultivated,  and  on  well-managed  farms,  may  be 
summarized  as  follows,  varying  according  to  the  latitude  of 
the  cotton  field:  Breaking  up,  burying  vegetation,  broadcast 
manuring,  and  harrowing,  December  and  January;  bedding 
up,  February;  fertilizing,  March;  sowing  seeds,  April;  chop- 
ping out  to  a  stand  and  throwing  soil  up  to  the  root.  May; 
(considerably  more  seeds  are  sown  than  plants  required; 
the  excess  of  plants  are  chopped  out  with  hoes);  cultivating 
by  plow  and  hoe,  or  cultivator,  latter  part  of  May  or  in  June; 
period  of  rest,  part  of  July  and  part  of  August;  picking, 
August,  September,  October,  November,  and  if  the  season 
is  an  open  one,  December  and  even  January. 


§14 


COTTON 


STRUCTURE  OF  THE  COTTON  FIBER 

4.  The  cotton  fiber,  which  to  the  naked  eye  appears  to  be 
a  fine,  smooth,  and  solid  filament,  exhibits  a  somewhat  com- 
plicated structure  when  examined  under  a  microscope.  A 
microscopic  view  of  cotton  fibers  is  shown  in  Fig.  3.  Each 
fiber  appears  to  be  a  collapsed  tube  with  corded  edges,  twisted 
many  times  throughout  its 
length  and  having  the  ap- 
pearance of  an  elongated 
corkscrew.  This  semi- 
spiral  construction  assists 
in  the  formation  of  a  strong 
thread  from  such  a  com- 
paratively weak  fiber  as 
cotton.  In  the  formation 
of  a  thread,  the  convolu- 
tions interlock  with  one 
another  and  help  to  resist 
any  tension  put  on  the 
yarn.     These  convolutions  ^'°-  ^ 

are  less  and  less  frequent  as  the  fiber  is  less  matured,  and 
are  almost  altogether  absent  in  the  immature  fiber,  which 
has  merely  the  appearance  of  a  flattened  ribbon  when  exam- 
ined under  a  microscope.  The  immature  fiber  is  transparent 
and  has  a  glossy  appearance,  so  that  when  it  exists  in  any 
quantity  in  a  bale  of  cotton  it  can  readily  be  detected  with 
the  naked  eye.  It  has  the  feature  of  not  taking  dye  so 
readily  as  ripened  cotton. 

If  examined  under  a  more  powerful  microscope,  the  cotton 
fiber  is  found  to  consist  of  four  distinct  membranes,  or  layers 
of  matter.  Ignoring  the  removable  foreign  matter  contained 
in  raw  cotton,  such  as  sand  and  other  mineral  substances, 
leaf,  pieces  of  boll,  or  stalk,  and  considering  the  fiber  as 
being  entirely  cleared  from  this,  it  is  found  to  be  composed 
of  cellulose,  permeated  by  a  small  amount  of  mineral  mat- 
ter, and  that  each  fiber  is  surrounded  by  soluble  substances 
present  to  the  extent  of  from  1  to  2  per  cent.     The  small 


6  COTTON  §  14 

amount  of  mineral  matter  may  be  liberated  by  burning  the 
fiber,  the  inorganic  matter  remaining  as  an  ash  retaining 
more  or  less  the  formation  of  the  fiber  and  being  about 
1  per  cent,  of   the   original   weight. 

Cellulose  is  the  largest  constituent  of  the  cotton  fiber;  in 
fact,  it  is  the  chief  constituent  of  almost  everything  of  veg- 
etable origin,  but  is  found  with  its  most  characteristic 
features  in  such  commercial  fibers  as  cotton,  ramie,  flax, 
and  so  on.  It  is  a  carbohydrate,  so  called  because  it  is 
composed  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen,  the  hydrogen 
and  oxygen  being  present  in  the  same  proportion  as  in 
water.  It  is  this  cellulose  that  absorbs  and  retains  moisture, 
the  cellulose  in  the  cotton  fiber,  when  in  an  air-dry  condition, 
containing  about  Ti  per  cent. 

The  soluble  substances  present  in  the  cotton  fiber,  princi- 
pally located  on  the  outside,  are  waxy  or  oily  substances 
permeated  with  other  material  and  amounting  in  the  aggre- 
gate to  from  I2  to  2  per  cent,  of  the  weight  of  raw  cotton. 
The  nature  of  these  materials  is,  as  yet,  more  or  less 
obscure;  the  portion  that  is  removable  by  scouring  with  a 
weak  solution  of  soda  ash  is  commonly  spoken  of  as  cotton 
wax,  while  others  removable  by  prolonged  boiling  in  dis- 
tilled water  are  given  the  name  of  zvaier  extract. 

5.  The  amount  of  removable  foreign  matter  in  cotton 
varies  greatly  with  the  variety,  and  even  in  diliferent  growths 
of  the  same  variety.  It  is  present  to  the  extent  of  from  1  per 
cent,  in  carefully  cultivated  sea-island  to  6  per  cent,  or  more 
in  coarse,  negligently  cultivated  East  Indian  cotton.  Assum- 
ing 2  per  cent,  as  a  fair  average,  the  following  data  repre- 
sent the  constituent  parts  of  what  is  commercially  known 
as  raw  cotton:  Cellulose,  87  per  cent.;  waxy,  or  other  easily 
soluble  substances,  2  per  cent.;  ash,  1  per  cent,  (giving 
90  per  cent,  of  fiber  if  absolutely  dry);  removable  foreign 
matter,  2  per  cent.;  moisture,  8  per  cent.  Of  course  no  two 
analyses  give  the  same  result  and  these  figures  only  repre- 
sent what  would  be  found  in  an  average  of  American-grown 
cotton  in  an  air-drv  condition. 


§  i-k  COTTON  7 

6.  The  property  of  containing  and  retaining  moisture, 
even  when  in  an  air-dry  condition,  or  hygroscopicity ,  is  com- 
mon to  most  of  the  commercial  textile  fibers,  although  cotton 
possesses  this  property  to  a  smaller  extent  than  most  other 
fibrous  materials.  There  is  a  quantity  of  water  always 
present  in  cotton  that  cannot  be  driven  out  by  a  moderate 
heat,  and  which,  even  after  it  has  been  expelled  by  excessive 
heat,  is  replaced  by  moisture  from  the  atmosphere  when  the 
superheated  cotton  is  allowed  to  stand  in  the  open  air. 
When  in  an  air-dry  state,  under  ordinary  atmospheric  con- 
ditions, cotton  contains  about  8  per  cent,  of  moisture. 

The  expression  air  d>y  is  used  to  describe  the  condition 
of  cotton  after  it  has  been  exposed  to  the  atmosphere  for 
such  a  length  of  time  and  under  such  conditions  as  will 
cause  it  to  lose  all  excessive  moisture  or  regain  deficient 
moisture,  so  as  to  be  in  a  normal  condition.  The  expres- 
sion absolutely  dry  cotton  means  cotton  that  has  been  heated 
to  such  a  high  temperature  and  under  such  conditions  that 
all  the  moisture  has  been  expelled  and  the  sample  being 
tested  will  cease  to  lose  weight. 

Moisture  is  necessary  to  the  satisfactory  manipulation  of 
the  fiber  in  spinning,  and  if  for  any  reason  a  portion  of  this 
natural  moisture  is  driven  out,  the  spinning  of  the  yarn 
is  rendered  more  difficult  until  it  is  replaced.  Frequently, 
from  1  to  la"  per  cent,  of  excessive  or  artificial  moisture 
is  found  in  cotton  beyond  the  amount  named.  The  amount 
of  moisture  in  raw  cotton  depends  largely  on  the  treatment 
of  cotton  after  picking  and  before  baling,  on  the  age  of  the 
cotton,  and  where  it  has  been  stored.  The  largest  amount 
of  natural  moisture  in  cotton  is  found  immediately  after  it 
has  been  picked  from  the  cotton  plant,  especially  in  the  case 
of  cotton  picked  early  in  the  season.  In  some  districts, 
especially  in  the  sea  islands,  it  is  customary  to  spread  the 
newly  picked  cotton  in  the  sun,  to  ripen  and  dry  it,  before 
ginning;  but  in  the  main  cotton  belt  no  such  care  is  taken, 
the  result  being  that  the  cotton  is  ginned  while  moist,  tend- 
ing to  gin  damage;  but  the  planter  ignores  this  in  his  anxiety 
to  have  it  baled  with  as  little  loss  of  weight  as  possible. 


^  COTTON  §14 

The  determination  of  the  amount  of  moisture  present 
is  commonh^  spoken  of  as  conditioning.  The  accurate  mean- 
ing of  this  expression  is  the  testing-  of  raw  stock,  yarn,  or 
fabrics  as  to  what  should  be  their  true  weight  if  the  normal 
regain  of  moisture  were  added  to  their  absolutely  dry 
weight.  From  this  expression,  the  name  conditioning  houses 
has  been  derived  to  indicate  those  establishments,  very  com- 
mon in  Europe,  where  fibrous  substances  are  tested  as  to  their 
hygroscopic  conditions.  At  all  these,  the  standard  of  moisture 
in  cotton  is  what  is  known  as  an  '^\-per-cent.  regain.  This 
does  not  mean  that  every  100  pounds,  or  other  units  of  weight 
of  cotton,  when  in  an  air-dry  condition  contains  8i  units  of 
water;  the  meaning  of  the  term  is  that  if  a  sample  of  cotton 
has  been  subjected  to  sufficient  heat  to  render  it  absolutely 
dry,  each  100  parts  by  weight  when  exposed  to  ordinary 
atmospheric  conditions  will  regain  8^  parts.  Thus,  in  an 
absolutely  dry  condition,  such  a  sample  of  cotton  would  contain 
7.834  per  cent,  of  water,  which  is  the  relation  of  82"  to  IO82. 

7.  Measurements  of  the  Cotton  Fiber. — Cotton  fibers 
even  from  the  same  seed  vary  considerably  in  length  and 
in  diameter,  and  only  approximate  measurements  can  be 
given.  The  diameter  of  a  cotton  fiber  varies  from  .0004  to 
.001  inch,  and  the  length  of  the  fiber  from  \  inch  to  2i  inches. 
Doctor  Bowman  is  the  authority  for  stating  that  there  are 
140,000,000  fibers  in  a  pound.  The  general  average  measure- 
ments for  cottons  of  the  United  States  are  given  in  the 
United  States  Government  Tenth  Census  Reports  as  follows: 
Length,  1.10  inches  (27.89  millimeters);  diameter,  .00091  inch 
(.023  millimeter);  strength,  125.6  grains  (8.14  grams). 

The  strength  of  individual  cotton  fibers  varies  from  75  to 
300  grains,  according  to  the  kind  of  cotton,  the  distance 
between  the  points  of  suspension  in  making  the  test,  and  the 
portion  of  the  fiber  selected  for  the  test.  Usually  the  long- 
stapled,  fine  cottons  break  with  the  least  strain,  and  the  short 
coarse  cottons  stand  the  greatest  strain.  The  ordinary 
American  cottons  have  a  breaking  strain  of  from  120  to 
140  grains. 


§  14  COTTON  9 

8.     Testing  Yarns  and  Fabrics  Containing?  Cotton. 

It  is  sometimes  necessary  to  determine  whether  or  not  a 
fabric  or  a  yarn  is  made  of  cotton,  and  while  the  experienced 
maniifacturer  is  usually  able  to  detect  this  by  the  appearance 
of  the  fabric,  there  are  several  tests  that  can  be  applied.  In 
the  first  place,  a  microscope  is  useful,  as  the  appearance  of 
the  cotton  fiber  when  highly  magnified  is  different  from  that 
of  silk,  linen,  or  wool,  the  wool  fiber  being  covered  with 
overlapping  scales,  silk  being  smooth  like  a  glass  rod, 
and  linen  showing  the  vascular  fiber  bundles  that  make  up 
the  complete  fiber.  In  addition  to  the  microscopical  test, 
another  may  be  made  b}^  burning  a  small  portion  of  the  yarn 
or  fabric.  Cotton  will  be  found  to  burn  with  a  flash,  leaving 
a  very  light  ash,  while  animal  fibers,  such  as  silk  and  wool, 
burn  more  slowly,  emitting  an  offensive  odor  and  leaving  a 
curled  bead,  or  globule,  of  carbonized  matter.  Chemical 
tests  may  also  be  made  b}^  which  the  nature  of  the  fiber  may 
be  determined  without  anv  doubt. 


COTTONS    OF    THE    WOKLD 

9.  Quantity  and  Quality  Produced. — While  the  cotton 
crop  of  the  United  States  is  the  most  important  and  most 
useful  in  the  world — being  of  such  importance,  in  fact,  that 
the  price  of  American  cotton  practically  controls  the  price  of 
other  cottons — there  are  numerous  cotton  fields  in  various 
parts  of  the  world  where  extensive  crops  are  raised  and  the 
product  used  for  purposes  for  which  American  cotton  cannot 
be  utilized.  The  most  important  cotton-growing  countries, 
other  than  the  United  States,  are  India,  Egypt,  China,  and 
Brazil.  Fig.  4  shows  the  proportion  of  cotton  raised  in  sev- 
eral countries  to  the  world's  crop  in  1900-1901. 

Sea-island  cotton  of  the  United  States  represents  the 
highest  quality,  and  is  spun  into  the  finest  yarn,  being  used 
very  largely  for  thread,  laces,  and  fine  cambrics.  Next  in 
fineness  of  quality  and  length  of  staple  is  the  brown  Egyp- 
tian cotton,  so  called  because  of  its  brownish  tinge,  which 
is  a  distinctive  feature  of  this  fiber;  this  is  very  largely  used 


10  COTTON  §14 

tor  fine  cotton  yarns  and  goods  of  all  varieties.  Among 
other  long-staple  cottons  that  are  not  important  commercially 
are  the  Tahiti  sea-island,  the  Peruvian,  the  white  Egyptian, 
and  Egyptian  Gallini  cottons.  The  next  grade  of  cotton  of 
any  importance  is  known  as  Brazilian;  it  has  a  staple  rather 
longer  than  the  average  American  cotton,  but  is  some- 
what rough  in  appearance  and  touch.  The  American  cottons 
form  the  next  class,  as  regards  quality,  varying  from  the 
fine  Mississippi  cottons.  Peelers,  and  benders,  to  the  short, 
clean  uplands  cotton. 


World's  Crop  15,127,000  Bales  of  500  Pounds 
United  States  of  America  10,546,000 
India  1,981,000 
China  and  Corea  1,100,000 

Egypt  1,075,000 

■ 

South  America  225,000 

■ 

Other  Crops  200,000 

Fig.  4 

Next  to  the  United  States,  China  produces  one  of  the 
largest  crops  of  cotton,  which  is  almost  all  consumed  in 
that  country.  It  is  a  beautiful  white  cotton,  somewhat 
harsh  to  the  touch,  but,  unfortunately  for  its  commercial 
importance,  is  comparatively  short-staple,  being  about  the 
length  of  the  shortest  American  uplands  cotton.  The  East 
India  crop  is  also  large,  but  is  regarded  as  being  both  the 
dirtiest  and  the  shortest-staple  cotton  produced. 

10.  Productive  Regions. — Owing  to  the  long  seasons 
of  considerable  heat   required  in  order  to  bring  cotton  to 


§14 


COTTON 


11 


maturity,  this  fiber  can  only  be  profitably  cultivated  in 
certain  regions  bordering  north  and  south  of  the  equator. 
This  is  usually  described  as  being  the  regions  bounded  by 
the  lines  of  latitude  45°  north  and  35°  south  of  the  equator, 
but  no  such  arbitrary  divisions  can  be  made,  as  the  isother- 
mal lines  must  be  taken  into  account.     For  instance,  a  line 


Fig.  5 

drawn  along  45°  north  latitude  includes  such  districts  as  New 
England  and  portions  of  Canada,  where  it  is  impossible  to 
grow  cotton  under  natural  conditions,  while  if  the  lines  were 
drawn  about  38°  north  latitude,  Avhich  is  the  northern  limit  of 
cotton-growing  districts  in  the  United  States,  it  would  exclude 
portions  of    Turkestan,    Southern   Italy.   Greece,   and  other 


12  COTTON  §  14 

districts  where  it  is  possible  to  cultivate  the  cotton  plant 
with  success.  Thus,  an  isotherm  must  be  followed  along^ 
the  lines  of  equal  temperature  in  the  northern  hemisphere, 
and  another  isothermal  line  in  the  southern  hemisphere. 
This  practically  embraces  in  North  America  all  the  southern 
portion  of  the  United  States,  including  all  of  Georgia,  South 
Carolina,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Texas,  Louisiana,  and 
Arkansas,  and  parts  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee, 
Indian  Territory,  California,  and  Florida;  Mexico  and 
Central  America;  and  in  South  America,  Peru,  the  Argentine 
Republic,  Brazil,  Venezuela,  and  Guiana.  In  Europe,  the 
islands  of  Malta,  Sicily,  southern  portions  of  Spain  and 
Italy,  and  parts  of  Greece  and  Turkey  are  included,  while 
the  Asiatic  countries  are  Arabia,  Persia,  Turkestan,  India, 
China,  Japan,  and  some  of  the  islands  in  the  Malay  Archi- 
pelago. In  Africa,  a  very  large  region  is  suited  to  the 
cultivation  of  cotton,  but  at  present  it  is  cultivated  only  in 
Egypt,  in  some  of  the  countries  on  the  western  coast,  and  to 
a  small  extent  in  South  Africa.  In  Australasia,  it  can  be 
cultivated  in  Queensland  and  the  Fiji  Islands. 

Fig.  5  shows  the  relative  length  of  staples  of  the  following 
leading  growths:  (a)  American  sea-island,  (d)  Peruvian, 
(c)  Brazilian,  (d)  brown  Egyptian,  {e)  American,  (/)  Indian, 
ig-)  Chinese,  {h)  Japanese. 

Tables  I,  II,  III,  and  IV  show  the  relative  importance, 
according  to  the  quality,  of  cottons  raised  in  various  countries. 


COTTON  USED  IN  AMERICA 


SEA-ISLAND    COTTON 

11.  Sea-island  cotton  is  the  name  used  commercially 
to  indicate  the  United  States  sea-island  cotton.  This  is 
grown  on  Edisto,  St.  Helena,  Port  Royal,  James,  and  John 
islands  off  the  coast  of  South  Carolina,  St.  Simon  and 
Cumberland  islands  oflf  the  coast  of  Georgia,  and  others. 
It  is  recognized  as  being  the  best  cotton  that  is  grown  in  any 


§14  COTTON  13 

part  of  the  world.  Very  careful  attention  is  given  to  its 
cultivation  and  ginning,  quality  being  considered  before 
quantity,  and  thus  sea-island  cotton  has  a  long,  fine,  strong 
and  silky  fiber  with  comparatively  regular  convolutions,  of 
a  diameter  from  .0004  to  .0006  inch,  ranging  in  length  from 
1 1  to  21  inches.  The  sea-island  cotton  crop  is  about  93,000 
bales  per  annum;  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  is  the  leading 
market  for  it. 

Sea-island  cotton  is  largely  used  for  thread  and  lace-making 
purposes,  and  is  regularly  spun  into  from  150s  to  400s  yarn, 
and  occasionally,  even  for  commercial  purposes,  as  high 
as  600s.  It  is  said  that  2,150s  yarn  was  spun  from  sea-island 
cotton  at  the  exhibition  of  London  in  1851.  Where  great 
strength  is  required  for  heavy  goods,  sea-island  cotton  is 
sometimes  used,  even  for  coarse  yarns;  as,  for  example,  the 
linings  of  bicycle  tires,  sail  cloth,  and  so  on. 

The  variety  of  so-called  Florida  sea-island  cotton  is  grown 
on  the  mainland  of  Florida  from  sea-island  seed;  this  is 
somewhat  inferior  to  the  sea-island  proper,  but  is  a  very 
useful  cotton  for  making  yarns  of  a  little  better  quality  than 
those  made  from  Egyptian  cotton.  It  has  a  white,  gloss3% 
strong  fiber,  a  little  coarser  than  the  strictly  sea-island,  and 
is  not  quite  so  carefully  cultivated.  It  is  suitable  for  yarns 
from  150s  to  200s.  

AMERICAN    COTTON 

12.  While  the  sea-island  cottons  just  described  are 
American,  this  name  is  seldom  applied  to  them,  but  is  used 
to  indicate  the  typical  cotton  of  the  world,  which  is  grown  in 
the  Southern  States  of  the  United  States  and  used  wher- 
ever cotton-spinning  mills  exist.  The  cotton  described 
commercially  as  American  is  suited  to  medium  numbers 
of  yarn;  is  usually  clean,  fairly  regular  in  length  of  staple, 
satisfactorily  graded,  and  consequently  is  one  of  the  most 
reliable  and  useful  cottons  for  a  manufacturer's  use.  The 
quantity  is  greater  than  that  produced  in  all  other  parts 
of  the  world  together,  and  consequently  the  price  of 
American  cotton  in  Liverpool,  which  is  the  greatest  market 


14  COTTON  §  14 

for  it,  greatly  influences  the  price  of  cotton  throughout  the 
world. 

American  cotton  may  be  divided  into  three  important 
classes;  namely,  gtdf  cotton;  upla7ids,  or  boweds;  and  Texas 
cotton. 

13.  Gulf,  or  New  Orleans,  cotton  usually  consists 
of  cotton  raised  in  the  basin  of  the  Mississippi  River,  inclu- 
ding the  states  of  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  parts  of  Arkansas, 
and  Alabama.  The  name  gulf  cotton  is  generally  used  in 
America  and  originates  from  the  fact  that  most  of  this  cotton 
is  shipped  from  states  bordering  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  In 
Europe,  the  name  New  Orleans  is  usually  applied,  and  is 
derived  from  the  shipping  port  of  that  name.  Gulf  cotton  is 
from  1  inch  to  li  inches  in  length  of  staple,  from  .0004  to 
.0007  inch  in  diameter,  and  is  generally  used  for  yarn  from 
28s  to  44s  warp  and  from  50s  to  70s  filling  or  ply.  This 
style  of  cotton  may  be  subdivided  into  others,  known  as 
Memphis,  benders,  Allan-seed,  Peelers,  and  so  on.  These 
names  were  originally  intended  to  represent  certain  kinds  of 
cotton,  but  have  been  very  much  misapplied  of  late  years. 
The  benders,  or  bottom-land,  cotton  is  supposed  to  be  grown 
at  the  bends  of  the  Mississippi  River,  which  are  occasionally 
flooded  and  consequently  well  fertilized  by  the  silt  of  the 
river.  It  is  one  of  the  better  grades  of  gulf  cotton,  and 
is  used  for  the  higher  numbers  named  above.  The  best 
qualities  of  gulf  cotton  are  known  as  Allan-seed  and  Peelers. 
These  are  used  for  fine  yarns,  often  for  fine  combed  yarns, 
and  by  some  spinners  are  preferred  to  Egyptian.  The  color 
is  bluish-white  rather  than  cream-colored,  and  somewhat 
resembles  short  Florida  sea-island. 

14.  Uplands  cotton  is  grown  in  the  undulating  country 
between  the  ocean  and  the  mountains  in  the  states  of 
Georgia,  North  and  South  Carolina,  Virginia,  and  Alabama. 
It  is  generally  used  for  filling  yarns  below  40s,  although  it 
may  be  spun  higher  if  required.  The  length  of  the  staple  is 
from  f  to  1  inch  and  the  fiber  is  from  .0006  to  .0007  inch  in 
diameter.     This  cotton  is  usually  very  clean. 


§  14  COTTON  15 

15.  The  cultivation  of  Texas  cotton  is  largely  on  the 
increase,  and  for  coarse  warp  yarn  it  is  the  most  suitable 
cotton.  In  dry  seasons,  it  is  apt  to  be  somewhat  harsh  and 
brittle  and  cannot  be  relied  on  as  much  as  gulf  or  uplands 
cotton.  The  staple  is  usually  from  «  to  1  inch  in  length 
(sometimes  exceeding  this),  and  from  .0005  to  .0007  inch  in 
diameter.  Up  to  26s  and  32s  warp  yarns  and  32s  and  40s 
filling  yarns  are  often  made  from  Texas  cotton,  although  it 
is  eminently  useful  for  warp.  Indian  Territory  and  Okla- 
homa cottons  are  of  the  Texas  style. 

Local  circumstances  often  affect  the  use  of  cotton  in  the 
Southern  States.  A  North  Carolina  mill  may  use  an  uplands 
cotton  both  for  warp  and  filling,  because  of  its  being  grown 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  mill,  although  it  is  really  a  filling 
cotton;  while  a  Mississippi  mill  may  use  local  cotton  for 
both  warp  and  filling,  although  it  is  really  too  good  for  the 
latter,  and  so  on.  

BROWN    EGYPTIAN    COTTON 

16.  The  cotton  used  in  American  mills  is  almost  entirely 
grown  in  the  United  States,  but  in  the  fine-spinning  districts 
a  quantity  of  bro%vn  Egyptian  cotton  is  used,  and  in  the 
woolen  mills  some  long,  rough-stapled  cotton,  such  as  rough 
Peruvian,  is  in  demand.  The  brown  Egyptian  cotton  is 
generally  used  for  warp  yarns  from  50s  upwards,  and 
filling  yarns  from  60s  upwards  intended  for  use  in  fine- 
woven  cotton  goods.  Some  of  this  cotton  is  also  used  for 
hosiery  yarns  and  for  the  manufacture  of  Balbriggan  under- 
wear; in  this  case  it  is  spun  into  lower  numbers  than  those 
just  mentioned. 

Almost  all  the  Egyptian  cotton  used  in  the  United  States 
is  combed.  The  features  of  brown  Egyptian  cotton  are  the 
length  of  staple  and  fineness  of  the  fiber,  it  being  very  silky 
and  delicate  in  structure.  The  Egyptian  cotton  now  grown 
is  almost  entirely  of  the  so-called  brown  Egyptian  type, 
being  of  a  very  light  brown  color. 


16  COTTON  §  14 


TABLES  OF  COTTON   CHARACTERISTICS 

17.  Four  tables  are  printed  herewith  that  have  been 
gradually  compiled  during  the  last  20  years;  they  are  the 
result  of  exhaustive  observation  and  investigation.  They 
give  all  the  known  cottons  under  their  trade  names  and 
state  where  the  cotton  is  grown,  the  length  of  the  staple, 
the  diameter  in  10,000ths  of  an  inch,  the  characteristics  and 
appearance  of  the  cotton,  the  numbers  of  yarn  into  which  it 
is  usually  spun,  and  whether  these  yarns  are  for  warp 
(twist),  filling  (weft),  or  ply  yarns  (doubling),  with  other 
information. 

These  tables  are  intended  to  indicate  the  numbers  of  yarns 
usually  spun  for  commercial  purposes.  For  special  yarns 
that  must  be  strong  or  of  a  high  grade,  the  cotton  may  be 
used  for  lower  numbers;  or  for  special  or  local  reasons,  it 
may  possibly  be  spun  into  higher  numbers,  or  into  warp, 
filling,  or  ply  yarn,  where  not  so  specified,  but  these 
are  unusual  cases,  and  are  not  considered  in  formulating 
the  tables. 

The  cottons  are  divided  into  four  kinds:  long-stapled, 
medium-  to  long-stapled,  medium-stapled,  and  short-stapled. 


GINNING  AND  BALING 

18.  Art.  3  gave  a  summary  of  the  processes  necessary 
for  the  cultivation  of  cotton,  including  cotton  picking;  but 
after  it  is  picked,  and  before  shipment  to  the  mill,  it  must  be 
ginned  and  baled.  Seed  cotton  as  it  is  picked  contains  about 
two-thirds  of  its  weight  in  seeds;  that  is,  out  of  3  pounds  of 
seed  cotton,  only  about  1  pound  is  fiber. 


THE    SA^V    GIX 

19.  The  gin  commonly  used  in  America  for  removing  the 
fiber  from  the  seed,  except  in  the  case  of  sea-island  cotton, 
is  the  one  known  as  the  saw  gin.  Its  construction  may  be 
briefly  described  as  a  series  of  revolving  circular  saws  with 


§14 


COTTON 


17 


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COTTON 


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§14 


COTTON 


19 


E 

o 

American  seed 
Some  very  weak  and  high 
color 

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Resembles    the   cotton 
from  (iuiana 

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British  and  French 
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Central  America 
West  India  Islands 

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Argentine 
Hawaiian  Islands 

Trade  Name 

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Catamarca 
Santa  Fe .   . 
Salta  .... 
San  Luis  .   . 
Rioja  .... 
Parand  .   .   . 
Hawaii  .   .   . 

20 


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COTTON 


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COTTON 


23 


fine  teeth,  so  placed  that  an  arc  of  their  circumference  pro- 
jects through  a  grid  into  a  receptacle  containing  the  seed 
cotton.  The  lint  is  torn  from  the  seed  and  carried  through 
the  grid  by  the  saws,  from  which  it  is  removed  by  a  brush 
and  carried  to  a  condenser. 

Fig.  6  is  a  section  through  a  gin,  one  of  the  saws  being 
marked  d.  The  seed-cotton  receptacle,  or  seed  box,  is 
marked  a;  r  is  the  saw  cylinder  on  which  the  saws  are  fixed; 
e  shows  the  grate  through  which  the  saws  project,  known  as 


Fig.  6 

the  breast,  or  grate  fall.  The  chamber  a  is  full  of  seed  and 
seed  cotton.  The  seed  cotton  is  on  the  outside  of  a  core  of 
seed  and  is  thus  brought  within  the  operation  of  the  saws. 

The  seed  cotton,  having  been  fed  into  the  chamber  a, 
passes  around  on  the  outside  of  the  mass  of  seed.  The 
teeth  of  the  saws,  projecting  through  the  grid  about  2  or 
4  inch,  tear  the  fibers  from  the  seeds  nearest  to  them.  The 
quick  speed  of  the  saws  (about  350  revolutions  per  minute) 
sets   up   a   rolling  motion   of   the   mass  of   seed,  for  which 


24  COTTON  §  14 

reason  the  chamber  a  is  sometimes  called  the  roll  box.  New 
seed  cotton  is  continually  being  brought  under  the  action  of 
the  saws,  being  fed  in  at  p,  while  the  seed  when  freed 
from  its  fiber  drops,  at  q,  to  the  floor.  The  fibers  are  car- 
ried forwards  by  the  revolution  of  the  saws  and  are  removed 
by  a  rotary  brush. 

The  circular  brush,  shown  at  /,  Fig.  6,  is  an  important 
part  of  the  machine;  it  should  be  filled  with  heavy  bristles 
and  the  framework  and  ribs  should  be  strongly  constructed 
and  well  bound  together.  The  brush  makes  four  or  five 
times  as  many  revolutions  per  minute  as  the  saws,  in  the 
direction  indicated  by  the  arrow  below  it,  Fig.  6,  and  the 
cotton  is  either  blown  into  a  lint  room,  on  the  old  system, 
or,  where  a  condenser  is  used,  the  fibers  are  drawn  forwards 
by  the  air-current  to  the  surface  of  wire-covered  drums  or 
screens;  by  passing  between  these  screens  they  are  delivered 
in  the  form  of  a  sheet,  being  deposited  on  the  floor  in  the 
case  of  gins  that  are  not  connected  to  a  conveyer. 

The  gins  most  frequently  used  have  from  sixty  to  eighty 
saws,  which  are  either  10  or  12  inches  in  diameter.  The 
highest  speed  that  12-inch  saw  cylinders  should  be  driven 
for  good  work  is  300  revolutions  per  minute,  although  they 
are  frequently  detrimentally  run  up  to  400  revolutions  per 
minute  and  above.  A  suitable  production  for  a  60-saw  gin 
is  one  bale  of  500  pounds  per  hour. 


THE    ROLLER    GIN 

20.  A  type  of  gin  used  both  for  long-  and  short-stapled 
cotton  in  many  parts  of  the  world — as  exemplified  by  its 
almost  exclusive  use  in  Egypt,  where  long-stapled  cotton  is 
grown,  and  in  India,  where  the  cotton  is  almost  all  short- 
stapled — is  the  roller  gin.  There  is  not  much  doubt  that 
the  roller  gin  separates  the  fiber  from  the  seed  with  a  very 
much  easier  action  than  the  saw  gin,  but  it  has  not  been 
adopted  in  the  United  States  to  so  large  an  extent  as  it 
should,  being  used  principally  in  the  sea-island  districts,  and 
even  there  only  to  a  limited  extent.     The  reason  for  this  is 


§  14  COTTON  25 

that  the  production  of  the  machine  is  not  so  great  as  that 
of  the  saw  gin. 

There  are  at  least  two  distinct  types  of  construction  of 
roller  gins  in  general  use,  but  both  of  them  depend  on  the 
same  principle  for  the  removal  of  the  fiber  from  the  seed, 
which  is  to  draw  the  fiber  between  a  rapidly  revolving  roll 
and  a  sharp  knife  edge  resting  against  this  roll,  so  that  the 
fibers  are  cut  ofT  near  the  point  of  attachment  to  the  seed. 
The  usual  method  is  to  place  the  seed  cotton  on  a  table 
or  hopper,  from  which  it  is  gradually  fed  into  a  seed  box 
and  presented  to  a  roll  covered  with  heavy  hide  that 
has  a  roughened  surface.  A  stout  knife  extends  across  the 
machine  near  the  revolving  roll,  its  edge  being  parallel 
with  the  shaft  on  which  the  roll  is  mounted.  The  fine 
fibers  adhere  to  the  leather  covering  of  the  roll,  and  are 
drawn  between  it  and  the  knife  until  the  seed  is  pulled 
against  the  edge,  when  the  fibers  are  severed  from  it.  The 
same  seed  is  continually  drawn  against  this  knife  edge  by 
different  fibers  attached  to  its  surface,  until  it  is  entirely 
stripped,  when  it  falls  down  and  another  seed  takes  its  place. 
The  cotton  is  being  constantly  removed  from  the  surface  of 
the  leather  roll. 

In  order  to  agitate  the  seeds  and  aid  in  the  removal  of 
the  fibers  as  they  pass  between  the  knife  and  the  roll,  two 
methods  are  adopted,  and  this  difference  of  construction 
characterizes  the  leading  types  of  roller  gins. 

21.  In  what  is  known  as  the  knife-roller  gin,  a  roll 
with  Y-shaped  or  angularly  set  knives  is  rotated  in  front  of  the 
leather  roll,  and  on  account  of  the  angle  at  which  the  knives 
are  set,  pushes  the  seeds  from  side  to  side  and  agitates  them 
sufficiently  to  aid  in  stripping  the  fibers  from  them  by 
presenting  new  surfaces  of  each  to  the  stripping  knife,  until 
it  is  absolutely  stripped  of  fiber. 

22.  In  another  type  of  gin,  known  as  the  Macartliy 
gin,  a  vertical  knife  mounted  on  a  connecting-rod  attached 
to  a  crank  is  given  a  reciprocating  motion,  and  thus  effects 
the  same  object.     In  what  is  known  as  the  double  Macarthy 


26  COTTON  §14 

gin  there  are  two  of  these  knives  operated  by  a  double  crank 
below  the  machine. 

23.  All  roller  gins  require  considerable  care  in  opera- 
tion, especially  with  regard  to  maintaining  a  true  surface  on 
the  leather  rolls  and  an  even  pressure  of  the  stripping  knife 
on  the  roll  at  all  points,  as  well  as  a  proper  adjustment 
of  the  blades  of  the  knife  roller  in  the  knife-roller  gin,  or  of 
the  vertical  knives  in  the  Macarthy  gin.  The  Macarthy  gin 
has  a  production  of  about  350  pounds  of  ginned  cotton 
in  a  day  of  10  hours  from  the  single  gin,  or  500  pounds 
in  a  day  of  10  hours  from  the  double  gin,  and  absorbs 
from  1  to  I2  horsepower.  The  knife-roller  gin  has  a  pro- 
duction of  800  to  1,000  pounds  in  a  day  of  10  hours,  and 
requires  2a  horsepower  to  drive  it. 


BALING 

24.  After  ginning,  the  cotton  is  baled.  This  is  done  by 
enclosing  it  in  a  baling  press  with  an  outside  wrapper  of 
coarse  burlap,  in  which  it  is  pressed  into  comparatively 
small   compass   and  held  by   iron   ties. 

The  bales  as  they  come  from  the  farms  or  the  cotton  gins 
are  too  large  for  economical  shipment  either  by  railroad  or 
steamship.  Consequently,  at  every  inland  city  and  seaport 
in  each  cotton  state  there  are  compresses.  These  are  power- 
ful steam  baling  presses,  in  which  the  cotton  bale  can  be 
reduced  to  smaller  dimensions. 

Previous  to  compressing,  the  exporters  affix  a  tag  to  each 
bale  by  which  to  identify  it,  and  take  from  each  bale  a  sam- 
ple, which  is  numbered  the  same  as  the  tag.  The  samples 
are  then  graded  and  assorted  into  lots  of  low  middling,  mid- 
dling, good  middling,  and  so  on,  as  will  be  explained,  and 
then  shipped  (usually  in  lots  of  100  bales)  either  to  Northern 
mills  or  to  Europe. 


§  14  COTTON  27 


MARKETING    COTTON 


SELECTION     AND     CLASSIFICATION 

25.  The  selection  of  cotton  from  samples,  or  the  judging 
of  cotton,  is  a  matter  of  considerable  importance.  In  order 
to  become  thoroughly  proficient,  a  long-  period  of  practice  is 
required  to  produce  the  trained  eye  and  hand  necessary  to 
distinguish  the  gradations  and  differences  in  quality  that  add 
to,  or  detract  from,  the  market  value  of  the  fiber.  This  is 
not  of  so  much  importance  in  the  Southern  markets,  where 
the  bales  are  usually  on  hand  to  be  referred  to  in  case  of 
dispute,  but  in  the  Northern  states,  and  in  any  country  where 
cotton  is  largely  purchased  from  samples,  it  is  of  the  utmost 
importance. 

26.  Samples. — Cotton  is  seldom,  if  ever,  purchased 
from  the  examination  of  the  bale,  but  from  parcels  containing 
small  pieces  of  cotton  from  each  bale,  technically  known  as 
papers  of  samples.  It  is  customary  in  well-managed  mills 
to  take  samples  of  each  new  lot  of  cotton  that  arrives  at  the 
mill,  sometimes  a  sample  from  every  bale,  and  at  other  mills 
only  from  a  certain  number  of  bales  out  of  each  hundred. 
The  samples  are  then  compared  with  the  buying  samples  to 
see  if  the  cotton  is  equal  to  the  quality  purchased. 

27.  Points  to  Be  Considei*ecl   in   Judffins   Cotton. 

In  judging  cotton  from  a  sample,  or  in  selecting  cotton  from 
a  sample  with  a  view  to  purchasing  it,  the  first  thing  to  do  is 
to  investigate  the  authenticity  of  the  sample.  The  points 
then  determined  are:  (1)  the  grade  of  the  sample,  (2)  the 
staple,  (3)  the  color,  (-4)  the  amount  of  sand,  (5)  the  amount 
of  dampness,  (6)  whether  the  cotton  is  even  running  or  not. 
These  points  are  arranged  in  order  of  their  usual  importance. 
This  is  not  necessarily  accurate  enough  for  some  purposes; 


28  COTTON  §  14 

for  instance,  in  cotton  to  be  used  for  filling  yarns,  the  color 
is  more  important  than  in  cotton  for  warp  j^arns.  As  the 
warp  yarn  has  to  be  sized,  the  appearance  of  a  good-colored 
cotton  is  somewhat  spoiled,  while  on  the  other  hand  defects 
of  a  dull-colored  cotton  are  hidden.  In  either  case,  the 
length  of  staple  may  be  the  most  important  point  to  con- 
sider where  it  is  desired  to  produce  a  strong  yarn  without 
regard  to  its  appearance. 

28.  Grade. — American  cotton  is  usually  graded  accord- 
ing to  a  standard  agreed  on  in  all  the  leading  cotton  markets 
of  the  world,  the  highest  grade  being  {air,  followed  by  six 
other  grades,  the  lowest  being  ordinary;  cotton  of  lower 
grade  is  called  inferior.  The  seven  full  grades  of  American 
cotton  are  fair,  middli^ig  fair,  good  middling,  middling,  low 
middling,  good  ordinary,   and  ordifiary. 

This  gradation  is  not  sufficiently  fine  for  the  cotton 
merchant,  and  consequently  each  grade  is  subdivided  into 
what  are  known  as  half  grades  and  quarter  grades.  By  this 
means  a  list  is  made  up  giving  twenty-six  different  grades  of 
cotton.     This  list  is  as  follows: 

Fair,  barely  fair,  strict  middling  fair,  fully  mid- 
dling fair. 
Middling  fair,  barely  middling  fair,  strict  good 

middling,  fully  good  middling. 
Good  middling,  barely  good  middling,  strict 

middling,  fully  middling. 
Middling,  barely  middling,  strict  low  middling, 

fully  low  middling. 
IjO'w   middling,    barely   low    middling,    strict 

good  ordinary,  fully  good  ordinary. 
Good   ordinary,  barely  good  ordinary,  strict 

ordinary. 
Ordinary,  low  ordinary,  inferior. 
Those  terms  having  the  word  strict  are  the  half  grades, 
while  those  having  the  words  barely  and  hilly  are  the  quarter 
grades.     The  full  grades  are  printed  in  bold-face  type. 

Grade    really    means    the    appearance    of    the    cotton    as 


§  14  COTTON  29 

regards  cleanliness,  and  the  above  system  of  grading 
depends  on  the  appearance  of  the  cotton  as  to  its  freedom 
from  leaf  and  other  impurities.  Some  graders  take  into 
consideration  what  is  known  as  bloom,  or  brighiness,  of  the 
cotton,  which  adds  to  the  grade;  also,  discoloration,  known 
as  off  color,  or  tinges,  which  detracts  from  the  grade. 

29.  Staple. — After  determining  the  grade,  the  next 
thing  to  do  is  to  find  the  staple.  The  word  staple  usually 
means  the  average  length  of  the  bulk  of  the  fibers  forming 
the  bale  assessed,  and  is  found  by  taking  a  small  portion  of 
cotton  in  the  way  hereafter  described,  preparing  a  tuft  of 
fibers  from  which  the  very  short  fibers  have  been  removed, 
and  then  measuring  the  average  length  of  fibers  remaining. 
Cotton  is  spoken  of  by  the  length  of  staple;  thus,  1-inch 
cotton,  li-inch  cotton,  and  so  on.  There  is  something  more 
that  is  usually  implied  by  the  word  staple — strength  of  the 
fiber.  This  is  determined  by  holding  one  end  of  the  tuft 
between  the  first  finger  and  thumb  of  each  hand  and  break- 
ing it.  The  word  staple  may  therefore  be  taken  to  mean  the 
average  length  of  the  fibers  forming  the  bale,  and  may  also 
be  understood  to  include  the  strength  of  the  fibers;  thus,  the 
expressions  lengtJi  of  staple  and  strength  of  staple  are  obtained. 

An  expert  cotton  sampler  or  buyer  will  often  judge  cotton 
by  simply  taking  a  tuft  and  giving  it  one  pull,  judging  it  by 
the  amount  of  drag  or  cling  that  must  be  overcome  in  pulling 
it  apart.  He  thus  tests  both  the  length  and  strength  of  the 
staple  at  the  same  time.  This  skilfulness  comes  only  with 
experience,  but  is  the  most  rapid  method  of  judging  cotton. 

30.  Sand  and  Dirt. — After  the  staple  has  been  deter- 
mined, it  is  necessary  to  discover  the  amount  of  sand  and 
dirt  in  the  cotton.  This  is  often  done  by  raising  the  cotton 
from  the  paper  that  holds  it  and  noticing  the  amount  of  sand 
remaining  on  the  paper,  this  sand  having  fallen  out  by  the 
repeated  handling  of  the  cotton.  It  is,  perhaps,  better 
to  hold  the  handful  of  cotton  as  high  as  one's  head  and 
shake  it  so  that  the  sand,  if  there  is  any,  can  be  seen  to  fall 
from  it. 


30  COTTON  §  14 

31.  Dampness. — Another  test  is  that  for  dampness. 
This  can  only  be  detected  in  the  sample  paper  if  the  samples 
are  newly  drawn,  in  which  case  it  can  be  felt  by  the  hand. 
If  the  samples  have  been  in  stock  for  some  time,  the  water 
originally  contained  in  them  will  have  evaporated  and  cannot 
be  ascertained  unless  it  has  previously  been  so  great  as  to 
cause  a  slight  formation  of  mildew  on  the  cotton,  in  which 
case  it  is  indicated  by  the  smell. 

32.  The  rich,  bright,  creamy  appearance  that  cotton  has, 
especially  in  the  early  part  of  the  year,  is  called  the  blooin. 
This  bloom  is  only  found  on  certain  growths  of  cotton  and 
adds  somewhat  to  its  value,  especially  where  it  is  to  be  used 
for  making  weft,  or  filling,  yarn,  or  where  the  goods  into 
which  it  is  to  be  made  are  to  be  sold  in  their  unbleached 
or  undyed  state,  technically  known  in  Europe  as  hi  the  gray  ^ 
and  in  some  parts  of  America  as  brotv7i  goods. 

Tinges,  high  color,  or  off  color,  should  be  looked  for.  These 
are  caused  where  the  cotton  has  become  tinged  while  on  the 
plant,  through  rain  stains,  or  by  having  fallen  on  the  ground 
and  become  mixed  with  some  of  the  red  clay  of  the  cotton  field. 
These  bales  should  be  avoided,  and  in  case  of  purchasing  from 
a  sample  containing  indications  of  having  come  from  tinged 
bales,  an  agreement  for  a  reduction  in  price  on  the  bales 
ought  to  be  arranged,  or  a  condition  made  that  these  bales  be 
thrown  out  before  shipment  of  the  quantity  purchased. 

33.  The  last  point,  and  one  that  is  important,  is  to  see 
that  all  bales  are  somewhat  alike.  Usually  a  sample  paper 
is  made  up  of  a  handful  of  cotton  from  each  of  the  lot  of 
bales;  by  testing  first  one  sample  and  then  another  it  is  dis- 
covered whether  the  lot  of  cotton  is  even  running.  Occa- 
sionally, however,  if  not  graded  properly  by  the  cotton  factor, 
a  lot  of  cotton  is  found  to  be  mixed;  some  bales  may  be  higher 
grade  than  others,  some  may  be  longer-stapled  than  others, 
and  even  in  the  same  bale  an  abnormal  variation  in  length  and 
strength  of  staple  may  be  found.  Cotton  of  this  kind  should 
be  avoided  altogether,  as  it  is  almost  impossible  to  make  satis- 
factory yarn  out  of  cotton  mixed  in  this  manner. 


§  14  COTTON  31 

34.  As  has  been  stated,  constant  practice  is  necessary  to 
become  a  good  judge  of  cotton.  Even  experienced  cotton 
graders  and  cotton  buyers  improve  year  by  year  in  their 
judgment  of  the  fiber,  until  some  of  them,  by  a  quick  glance 
or  the  slightest  touch,  can  determine  at  once  whether  the 
cotton  is  suitable  for  their  purposes  or  not.  It  is  not  an 
unusual  thing  for  a  cotton  buyer  in  a  market  like  Liverpool 
to  become  so  expert  as  to  be  able  to  examine  in  a  single 
day  type  samples  representing  tens  of  thousands  of  bales. 

Usually  the  grade  is  mentally  determined;  then  a  small 
handful  of  cotton  is  grasped  by  both  hands,  having  the 
thumbs  uppermost,  and  pulled  apart.  One-half  is  thrown 
away,  and  the  ends  of  the  fibers  that  project  from  the  other 
piece  are  grasped  between  the  thumb  and  the  first  finger  of 
the  right  hand,  and  the  left  hand  is  employed  in  removing 
short  fibers,  or  hid,  from  the  tuft.  The  tuft  of  cotton,  now 
much  lessened  in  size,  is  grasped  by  holding  the  other  ends 
of  the  fibers  in  the  left  hand,  while  the  right  hand  removes 
more  short  fibers,  or  fud.  By  these  few  quick  movements 
an  experienced  cotton  sampler  has  arrived  at  a  small  tuft  of 
fibers  laid  parallel,  which  can  first  be  measured,  usually  with 
the  eye  only,  and  afterwards  grasped  firmly  between  the  first 
finger  and  the  thumb  of  each  hand,  the  thumbs  being  upper- 
most, and  broken  by  a  short,  strong  pull.  By  always  taking 
the  same  amount  of  cotton  in  the  hand  at  once,  and  redu- 
cing it  to  the  same-sized  tuft,  the  cotton  sampler  fixes  a 
standard  of  length  and  strength  for  himself,  by  which  he  can 
assess  the  value  of  almost  any  kind  of  cotton. 

An  accurate  judgment  of  the  length  of  staple  can  only  be 
acquired  by  experience  and  practice,  and  a  uniform  method 
should  be  cultivated.  By  removing  all  short  fibers  and 
retaining  only  the  longest  ones  for  measurement,  too  long 
a  measurement  is  obtained.  This  is  often  done  by  those 
interested  in  the  sale  of  the  cotton.  By  throwing  out  the  long 
fibers  and  measuring  the  shortest  ones,  the  length  obtained 
does  not  fairly  represent  the  staple  of  the  cotton.  A  cotton 
sampler  who  wishes  to  give  an  impartial  judgment  will  throw 
out  all  the  shortest  fibers,  or  the  fud  and  the  waste,  and  also 


32  COTTON  §  14 

the  longest  fibers,  which  are  evidently  unrepresentative  of  the 
bulk  of  the  cotton,  leaving  a  bunch  of  fibers  fairly  even  in 
length  and  typical  of  the  majority  of  the  fibers  in  the  bale. 
These  fibers  are  then  measured. 

35.  After  the  grade  and  staple  have  been  determined  in 
the  manner  just  named,  a  test  is  made  for  sand  and  for 
uneven  running;  the  appearance  as  to  bloom,  color,  and 
evidences  of  gin  damage  is  then  noticed,  completing  the 
test  of  the  cotton,  by  which  time  a  cotton  expert  should 
have  made  a  mental  estimate  of  its  value. 

In  regard  to  gin  damage,  it  should  be  stated  that  this  often 
occurs  when  cotton  is  ginned  on  the  saw  gin  while  damp;  it 
is  also  caused  if  the  gin  is  operated  at  too  high  a  speed. 
Cotton  in  this  condition  can  be  recognized  by  being  curled 
and  stringy,  with  the  fiber  broken  or  cut. 

Another  point  to  be  noted  in  this  connection  is  that  local 
circumstances  often  affect  the  judgment  on  a  lot  of  cotton; 
for  instance,  a  good  north  light  is  the  best  in  which  to  judge 
cotton,  as  this  light  is  more  regular  than  any  other.  Cotton 
should  not  be  purchased  from  a  sample  wrapped  in  paper 
with  a  blue  lining,  unless  it  is  removed  for  examination,  as 
this  causes  the  cotton  to  appear  better  than  it  really  is. 


COTTON  MARKETS  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

36.  The  largest  crop  in  any  of  the  states  is  raised  in 
Texas,  and  this  makes  Houston  one  of  the  most  important 
interior  markets  of  the  United  States.  In  the  season  of 
1899-1900,  550,000  bales  of  cotton  were  sold  in  this  market, 
which  amount  was  excelled  only  by  the  gulf  port  New 
Orleans,  where  1,002,000  bales  were  sold  in  the  same  season. 
Memphis,  on  the  Mississippi  River,  is  a  market  of  importance 
and  is  a  great  center  for  long-stapled  cotton.  In  the  season 
referred  to,  477,000  bales  were  handled  at  Memphis  and 
267,000  at  Augusta,  Georgia. 

Among  other  important  cotton  markets  are  Savannah, 
Georgia;  Charleston,  South  Carolina;  Mobile,  Alabama; 
St.    Louis,    Missouri;     Shreveport,    Louisiana;     Vicksburg 


§  14  COTTON  33 

and  Columbus,  Mississippi;  Macon,  Columbus,  and  Rome, 
Georgia;  Selma,  Montgomery,  and  Eufaula,  Alabama;  and 
Nashville,  Tennessee. 

MILL.    PURCHASES    OF    COTTON 

37.  The  cities  of  Boston,  Providence,  New  Bedford,  and 
Fall  River  are  important  markets  for  cotton,  as  many  of  the 
Southern  factors  have  agents  or  branch  offices  at  these  points. 
In  the  fall,  the  salesmen  of  these  houses,  together  with  spe- 
cial agents  who  are  sent  from  the  cotton  belt,  are  very  busy 
in  ofifering  cotton  to  the  manufacturers,  who  buy  large  quan- 
tities from  October  until  March.  The  treasurers  of  the  mills 
are  usually  the  cotton  buyers,  and  they  select  cotton  from 
the  samples  that  have  been  sent  from  the  cotton  factor,- show- 
ing the  style  of  cotton  that  he  is  offering.  Practically  the 
whole  of  the  cotton  required  for  a  year  is  purchased  in  the 
period  named  above,  and  very  frequently  it  is  shipped  North 
immediately  after  the  sale  takes  place.  Arrangements  are 
occasionally  made  for  the  shipment  of  so  many  bales  per 
month. 

Money  can  be  borrowed  at  very  much  lower  rates  of 
interest  in  New  England  than  in  the  South,  and  consequently 
it  is  much  cheaper  to  carry  or  hold  cotton  in  the  North,  as  in 
most  cases  the  parties  hold  it  on  behalf  of  the  banks  that 
have  loaned  money  to  enable  them  to  carry  it.  For  this 
reason  most  of  the  large  cotton-manufacturing  establish- 
ments of  New  England  have  very  large  storehouses  con- 
nected with  their  mill  buildings,  and  the  winter  is  usually 
a  very  busy  time  in  receiving  this  cotton,  and  weighing, 
sampling,  and  storing  it  for  future  use 

The  terms  on  which  Northern  manufacturers  buy  cotton  are 
very  simple.  Usually  the  cotton  is  sold  on  cash  terms,  with 
no  discount  being  allowed  and  no  allowance  being  made  for 
bags  or  ties,  the  gross  weight  being  invoiced.  The  cotton 
is  usually  purchased  delivered  in  Boston  or  an  equivalen. 
point,  a  freight  rate  allowance  being  made  by  the  shipper 
equal  to  the  amount  that  the  manufacturer  pays  for  the 
freight  on  arrival  of  the  cotton.     It  will  be  seen  that  the 


34  COTTON  §  14 

above  system  requires  that  a  very  large  stock  of  cotton  be 
kept  at  the  mills  for  a  considerable  portion  of  the  year. 

While  the  above  system  is  a  general  one,  there  are 
special  cases  in  which  the  cotton  is  purchased  as  needed; 
in  these  cases  it  is  not  unusual  for  manufacturers  to  send 
mail  orders  to  reliable  Southern  houses  that  know  what  grade 
of  cotton  they  are  accustomed  to  use,  specifying  the  length 
of  staple,  grade,  and  style  of  cotton,  and  leaving  it  to  the 
Southern  merchant  to  ship  the  quality  of  cotton  desired.  In 
cases  of  this  kind,  cotton  is  said  to  be  bought  on  descrip- 
tion; that  is  to  say,  the  mill  will  purchase  cotton,  simply 
stating  that  it  is  to  be  of  a  certain  grade  and  certain  length 
of  staple;  for  instance,  100  or  1,000  bales  good  middling 
li  inches. 

EXPORTATION  OF  COTTON 

38.  The  exports  of  cotton  and  its  products  from  the 
United  States  in  the  fiscal  year  ending  1901  exceeded  the 
export  value  of  any  other  class  of  exports,  averaging 
$1,000,000  per  day  throughout  the  year.  The  actual  figures 
are  as  follows: 

Cotton,  raw      $313,673,443 

Cotton  manufactures      .        .  2  0,2  7  2,4  1  8 

Cottonseed  oil 1  6,5  4  1,3  2  1 

Cottonseed  meal 1  3,1  1  9,9  6  8 

Cotton  waste 1,4  3  1,6  0  4 

Cottonseed 3  6  6,9  5  3 

Total ,    .    .    .    $3  6  5,4  0  5,7  0  7 


PICKERS 

(PART  1) 


YARN-PREPARATION   PROCESSES 


INTRODUCTION 

1.  Condition  of  Stock. — The  condition  in  which  the 
raw  cotton  reaches  the  cotton  mill  is  that  of  a  compressed 
bale.  In  a  few  sections  in  the  United  States  and  in  some 
foreign  countries  where  cotton  mills  are  located  in  close 
proximity  to  the  cotton  fields,  the  cotton  is  delivered  to  the 
mill  in  a  loosely  packed  bale  that  has  not  been  compressed, 
and  in  some  cases  even  as  loose  cotton  taken  from  the  cotton 
gin  to  the  mill  without  baling.  Instances  of  this  kind  are 
very  rare,  however,  compared  with  the  general  method  of 
delivering  cotton  in  the  form  of  a  compressed  bale,  which 
is  the  condition  that  will  be  accepted  as  a  standard.  A  com- 
pressed bale  of  cotton  is  a  matted  mass  of  innumerable 
fibers  lying  in  all  directions,  with  which  are  intermixed 
sand,  broken  leaf,  sticks,  broken  seed,  and  other  foreign 
matter.  The  fibers  themselves,  although  approximately  of 
the  same  quality,  are  not,  even  in  the  same  bale,  exactly  of 
the  same  length,  nor  are  they  all  ripened  to  the  same  point 
of  maturity,  while  some  of  them  may  have  been  cut  by  the 
action  of  the  gin,  or  rolled  into  iieps;  that  is,  into  small 
bunches  of  closely  matted  and  tangled  fibers  that  have  the 
appearance  of  specks  in  the  cotton  and,  while  varying  in  size, 
are  generally  very  minute,  rarely  being  larger  than  an  ordi- 
nary pin  head. 

For  notice  of  copyright,  see  page  immediately  following  the  title  page 
I  16 


2  PICKERS  §16 

2.  Object  of  Cotton -Yarn  Mills. — From  this  mate- 
rial, it  is  the  object  of  the  cotton-yarn  mill  to  produce  a 
clean,  smooth,  even  thread  from  which  all  foreign  matter 
has  been  removed,  and  which  consists  only  of  the  perfect, 
or  approximately  perfect,  fibers,  the  neps  and  excessively 
short  fiber  having  been  thrown  out.  In  order  to  produce 
a  comparatively  strong  thread,  the  fibers  not  only  must 
be  cleaned,  but  must  be  arranged  approximately  parallel 
to  each  other  and  assembled  by  a  system  in  which  a  loose 
strand  or  ribbon  of  fibers  is  produced,  which  is  gradually 
attenuated  until  it  arrives  at  the  correct  fineness,  when  it 
is  twisted  to  give  it  strength,  and  in  that  condition  is  spoken 
of  in  the  cotton  manufacturing  business  as  yarn.  This, 
then,  in  general,  is  the  object  of  the  cotton-yarn  mill — to 
produce  from  the  bale  of  raw  cotton  as  large  a  percentage 
as  possible  of  cotton  yarn,  which  should  be  smooth,  clean, 
even,  and  strong. 

One  pound  of  cotton  must  be  spun  into  yarn  of  which 
there  is  seldom  less  than  1  mile  to  a  pound,  usually  10  miles 
or  even  a  greater  length  than  this;  and  in  some  cases,  for 
special  purposes,  there  may  be  100  miles  or  more.  The 
problem  is  not  only  a  mechanical  one,  but  one  involving 
a  constant  study  of  economy  and  also  aiming  at  an  excel- 
lence of  production  as  far  as  is  consistent  with  the  proper 
economical  operation  of  the  yarn  mill. 


PROCESSES  EMPIjOYED  FOR  PRODUCTION 
OF  COTTON  YARN 

3.  In  order  to  produce  cotton  yarn,  the  fiber  is  passed 
through  a  number  of  processes,  varying  from  ten  in  a  mill 
manufacturing  coarse  yarns  to  fifteen  in  one  making  fine 
yarns.  These  processes  may  be  divided  into  three  classes, 
as  follows:  (1)  mixing;  (2)  cleaning;  (3)  parallelizing  and 
attenuating.  In  this  classification,  those  processes  that 
follow  the  spinning  are  of  course  ignored,  although  in  a 
mill  making  yarn  for  sale,  a  fourth  class  might  be  made  of 
processes  for  preparing  the  yarn  for  the  market. 


§16  PICKERS  3 

4.  Yarn  is  spoken  of  as  being  coarse,  medium,  or  fine, 
according  to  the  thickness  of  the  thread,  and  this  in  turn  is 
determined  by  the  number  of  hanks  to  the  pound.  A  hank 
of  cotton  yarn  contains  840  yards,  and  the  size  of  the  yarn  is 
indicated  by  the  number  of  these  hanks  required  to  weigh 
1  pound;  thus,  10s  yarn  would  contain  10  hanks,  or  10  X  840 
yards,  making  8,400  yards,  in  a  pound;  40s  yarn  would  con- 
tain 40  hanks,  or  33,600  yards,  in  a  pound.  The  higher  the 
numbers,  that  is,  the  greater  the  number  of  hanks  in  a 
pound,  the  finer  is  the  yarn. 

No  arbitrary  rule  can  be  given  for  determining  which  is 
coarse  yarn,  which  is  medium,  or  which  is  fine,  as  a  manu- 
facturer accustomed  to  making  only  coarse  yarn  might 
consider  30s  fine,  while  another  manufacturer  engaged  princi- 
pally in  the  use  of  fine  yarns  would  consider  30s  coarse.  A 
general  classification  would  be  to  consider  yarns  below  30s 
as  coarse;  from  30s  to  60s  as  medium  numbers;  and  above 
60s  as  fine  yarns.  The  expression  lozv  munbcrs  is  sometimes 
applied  to  coarse  yarns,  and  high  njir,diers,  to  fine  yarns. 
The  number  of  a  given  yarn  is  commonly  spoken  of 
as  its  counts;  thus,  it  is  said  that  the  counts  of  yarns 
are    10s,   12s,  36s,   etc. 

5.  The  processes  adopted  in  different  mills  vary  accord- 
ing to  whether  the  mills  are  intended  for  coarse,  medium, 
or  fine  yarns.  A  mill  making  medium  yarns,  for  instance  about 
32s,  would  in  most  cases  use  the  following  machines:  auto- 
matic feeder,  opener,  breaker  picker,  intermediate  picker, 
finisher  picker,  card,  first  drawing,  second  drawing,  third 
drawing,  slubber,  intermediate,  roving  frame,  spinning  frame. 
In  cases  where  the  railway  head  is  used,  it  comes  between 
the  card  and  the  first  drawing;  in  this  case  the  third  draw- 
ing is  omitted.  Where  the  bale  breaker,  or  cotton  puller,  is 
used,  it  takes  a  position  before  the  automatic  feeder.  Where 
the  mule  is  used,  it  takes  the  place  of  the  spinning  frame. 

For  coarser  numbers,  the  above  list  is  changed  by  omitting 
one  or  more  of  the  parallelizing  and  attenuating  processes, 
and  sometimes  adding  a  cleaning  process.     In  changing  the 


4  PICKERS  §  16 

list  to  suit  finer  yarns,  the  reverse  is  the  case;  one  clean- 
ing process,  or  more,  is  omitted  and  attenuating  processes 
are  added,  but  for  very  fine  yarns,  a  cleaning  process, 
namely,  combing,  is  added. 

Below  will  be  found  combinations  of  machinery  suitable 
for  mills  making  various  numbers. 

6.  The  machinery  for  yarn  mills  making  10s  and  below 
is  as  follows:  automatic  feeder,  opener,  breaker  picker, 
intermediate  picker,  finisher  picker,  card,  first  drawing, 
second  drawing,  slubber,  roving  frame,  spinning  frame.  The 
railway  head  may  be  used  instead  of  the  first  drawing  process. 

The  machinery  used  in  yarn  mills  making  about  100s  is  as 
follows:  automatic  feeder,  opener,  breaker  picker,  finisher 
picker,  card,  sliver-lap  machine,  ribbon-lap  machine,  comber, 
first  drawing,  second  drawing,  third  drawing,  fourth  drawing 
(optional),  slubber,  first  intermediate,  second  intermediate, 
roving  frame,  mule.  Sometimes  a  drawing  process  is  used 
between  the  card  and  the  sliver-lap  machine.  Where  four 
processes  of  drawing  are  used,  the  roving  frame  is  not 
necessary,  and  where  four  processes  of  fly  frames  (slubber, 
first  intermediate,  second  intermediate,  and  roving  frame) 
are  used,  it  is  not  always  necessary  to  have  more  than  three 
processes   of  drawing. 

The  machinery  used  in  yarn  mills  for  making  200s  is  as 
follows:  automatic  feeder,  opener,  breaker  picker,  card, 
sliver-lap  machine,  ribbon-lap  machine,  comber,  first  draw- 
ing, second  drawing,  third  drawing,  fourth  drawing,  slubber, 
first  intermediate,  second  intermediate,  roving  frame,  mule. 

The  names  given  to  the  fly  frames  vary  in  different  sec- 
tions, and  in  some  places  they  are  known  as  slubber,  inter- 
mediate, roving  frame,  and  jack  frame. 

7.  What  are  known  as  do2ible-cnrdiiis;  processes  were  for- 
merly very  often  employed,  but  are  now  going  out  of  use 
both  for  coarse  and  fine  yarns.  Any  of  the  preceding  com- 
binations can  be  converted  into  double-carding  combinations 
by  adding  after  the  card  the  names  of  derby  doubler  and 
finisher  card. 


§  16  PICKERS  5 

8.  It  is  advisable  to  carefully  study  the  combinations 
just  given,  noticing  the  difference  between  one  combination 
and  another,  and  becoming  thoroughly  familiar  with  the 
order  in  which  the  machines  are  mentioned,  so  that  a 
knowledge  of  the  accurate  sequence  of  processes  may  be 
obtained.  While  the  foregoing  combinations  of  machinery 
are  reliable  and  may  be  considered  as  the  standards  for  the 
class  of  w^ork  to  which  they  refer,  it  occasionally  happens 
that  mills  are  found  using  different  layouts.  This  may  be 
because  the  mill  is  intended  to  make  a  lower  or  a  higher 
grade  of  yarn  than  is  customary  for  the  numbers  referred 
to,  or  because  it  is  a  mill  that  has  been  changed  over  from 
other  numbers  and  the  old  machinery  has  been  retained;  or 
there  may  be  many  other  reasons. 

Different  opinions  are  held  among  millmen  and  mill  engi- 
neers as  to  the  proper  equipment  for  mills.  In  this  connec- 
tion, as  \vell  as  in  regard  to  all  other  statements  concerning 
cotton-mill  machinery  —  especially  as  to  its  construction  and 
operation — it  may  be  said  that  there  is  perhaps  no  industry  in 
which  so  much  variety  of  opinion  will  be  found  regarding  the 
best  methods  of  arriving  at  certain  objects  as  in  the  cotton- 
mill  business.  Not  only  do  differences  of  opinion  arise 
among  manufacturers,  but  a  machine  builder  frequently  looks 
at  a  problem  from  a  point  of  view  differing  from  that  of  a 
manufacturer.  He  looks  on  a  machine  or  a  process  as  a 
mechanical  problem  to  be  solved,  while  a  manufacturer  looks 
at  it  as  a  problem  to  obtain  certain  results  effectively  and 
economically.  Again,  American  practice  differs  considerably 
in  some  respects  from  European  methods.  For  these  reasons 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  give  definite  statements  of  the  cus- 
tomary use  and  practice  accepted  by  all  millmen,  and  there- 
fore the  statements  made  are  in  every  case,  as  far  as  possible, 
either  what  has  been  found  from  experience  to  be  correct, 
or  what  the  majority  of  manufacturers  would  accept  as  being 
accurate,  according  to  American  practice. 

9.  A  thorough  comprehension  of  the  principles  of  cotton- 
yarn  preparation  can  best  be  obtained  by  a  careful  study  of 


6  PICKERS  §16 

each  machine  or  process  in  its  proper  sequence,  including 
the  objects  of  the  machine,  the  principle  on  which  it  is  con- 
structed, and  the  mechanism  employed  to  arrive  at  its 
objects;  and  by  considering  the  operation  and  management 
of  the  machine  not  only  theoretically,  but  from  actual  obser- 
vation. In  doing  this,  the  desired  knowledge  will  be  obtained 
sooner  if  the  combined  objects  of  all  cotton-yarn-preparation 
machines  are  borne  in  mind:  (1)  the  separation  of  the 
matted  mass  of  fiber  into  loose  flakes  and  the  removal  of 
the  heavier  and  more  bulky  impurities,  which  objects  are 
principally  attained  in  the  opening  and  picking  processes; 
(2)  the  further  cleansing  of  the  stock  from  light  and  minute 
particles  of  foreign  matter  by  such  means  as  are  adopted 
in  the  carding  and  combing  processes;  (3)  the  parallelizing, 
evening,  and  attenuation  of  the  fibers,  as  performed  in  the 
carding  and  drawing  processes,  in  the  fly  frames,  and  in 
the  spinning  process;  (4)  the  strengthening  of  the  product 
by  twisting,  as  exemplified  in  ring  or  mule  spinning. 


COTTON    MIXING 

10.  Receipt  of  Cotton  at  the  Mill.  —  If  cotton  is 
received  at  the  mill  in  large  quantities,  as  is  usually  the 
case,  it  must  necessarily  be  stored  until  it  is  required  for 
use.  Before  storing,  however,  it  should  be  carefully  ascer- 
tained whether  the  quality  of  the  cotton  in  each  bale  is  equal 
to  the  quality  of  the  sample  from  which  it  was  bought. 
After  this  has  been  accomplished,  all  the  bales  of  one  kind, 
grade,  and  staple  (approximately)  should  be  placed  together 
in  the  storehouse,  irrespective  of  their  original  marks. 

11.  Objects. — When  a  new  lot  of  cotton  is  to  be  used, 
as  many  bales  as  it  is  desired  to  mix  at  one  time  are  taken 
from  the  storehouse  to  the  mixing:  room,  where  the  cotton 
is  mixed.  The  objects  of  mixing  the  cotton  from  a  number 
of  bales  are:  (1)  to  allow  the  cotton  to  assume  its  normal 
condition;  (2)  to  establish  an  average  quality  of  grade  in 
the  lot.  As  regards  the  first  object  it  should  be  understood 
that  cotton  when  compressed  is  subjected  to  great  pressure — 


§16  PICKERS  7 

so  much  so  that  the  space  occupied  by  seventy  uncom- 
pressed bales  is  often  equal  to  that  occupied  by  one  hundred 
that  are  compressed.  Cotton,  when  in  this  compressed  state, 
cannot  be  worked  so  advantageously  as  when  in  its  normal 
condition,  and  for  this  reason  should  be  allowed  to  stand 
for  some  time  after  being  opened  before  it  is  used. 

As  regards  the  second  object  of  mixing,  it  may  be  stated 
that,  theoretically,  to  make  a  perfect  product,  all  the  fibers 
should  be  of  the  same  length,  diameter,  strength,  cleanli- 
ness, and  color;  in  other  words,  they  should  be  equally 
matured  and  grown  under  the  same  conditions. 

It  is  impossible,  however,  to  obtain  a  large  quantity  of  cot- 
ton that  will  not  vary  in  quality,  because  the  lot  is  made  up  of 
cotton  collected  from  various  plantations,  which  are  probably 
some  distance  from  each  other  and  subject  to  different  cli- 
matic conditions,  different  methods  of  cultivation,  different 
seed  and  soil.  The  result  is  that  the  cotton  from  the  planta- 
tion where  the  conditions  were  most  favorable  is  in  a  higher 
state  of  maturity  than  that  raised  on  the  other  plantations. 
Even  in  bales  from  the  same  plantation  a  variation  is  found. 
An  experienced  cotton  sampler  can  find  points  of  difference — 
slight  in  many  cases,  but  still  variations — in  almost  every 
bale  of  each  lot  of  cotton.  In  order  to  neutralize  this  varia- 
tion as  much  as  possible  and  insure  a  continuance  of  a  supply 
of  even-running  stock  over  as  long  a  period  as  possible  in  the 
mill,  mixing  the  bales  is  resorted  to. 

12.  Size  of  tlie  Mixinj?. — The  quantity  of  cotton  used 
in  a  mixing  should  be  as  large  as  possible;  for  the  larger  the 
mixing,  the  easier  it  is  to  keep  the  work  regular  for  a  consider- 
able length  of  time.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  no  two  mix- 
ings are  alike,  this  being  due  not  only  to  the  variation  found 
in  different  bales  of  the  same  kind,  but  also  to  atmospheric 
changes  that  affect  the  cotton,  especially  in  regard  to  mois- 
ture. In  addition  to  securing  regularity,  another  reason  for 
having  large  mixings  is  to  give  cotton  from  compressed  bales 
an  opportunity  to  expand.  By  making  a  large  mixing  and 
allowing  it  to  stand  for  some  days  in  a  room,  the  temperature 


8  PICKERS  §16 

and  humidity  of  which  are  about  the  same  as  those  of  the  room 
in  which  the  cotton  is  to  be  worked,  it  will  be  found  that  the 
stock  will  run  much  more  evenly,  make  less  waste,  and  pro- 
duce a  stronger  yarn  than  when  used  directly  from  the  bale. 

13.  Metliod  of  Mixing. — Mixings  when  made  by  hand 
should  occupy  a  considerable  amount  of  floor  space.  The 
first  bale  should  be  spread  over  all  this  space,  the  second 
bale  spread  to  cover  the  first,  the  third  to  cover  the  second, 
and  so  on.  By  this  means  the  mixing  is  built  up  of  layers 
from  each  bale  of  cotton.  When  a  mixing  is  used,  the  cotton 
should  be  pulled  away  in  small  sections  from  the  top  to  the 
bottom  of  the  mixing  so  as  to  obtain  portions  of  each  bale. 

It  is  a  good  plan  when  using  bales  of  different  marks, 
to  average  the  mixing  so  that  no  two  bales  of  the  same 
mark  shall  come  in  contact  with  each  other.  The  following 
rule  is  used  to  find  the  number  of  sections  that  should  be 
made  in  order  to  obtain  the  correct  proportion  of  each  mark 
in  a  section. 

14,  Rule. — To  find  the  mimber  of  sections  of  which  a  mixirig 
should  consist,  find  the  largest  -number  that  zvill  exactly  divide  the 
miniber  of  bales  of  each  mark.  Thoi,  to  find  the  number  of  bales 
of  each  mark  that  there  should  be  in  each  section,  divide  the  num- 
ber of  bales  of  each  mark  by  the  member  of  sections  in  the  mixing. 

Example. — Find  a  suitable  order  for  mixing  100  bales,  the  mixing  to 
consist  of  40  bales  marked  ABC;  20,  G  H  I;  10,  J  K  L;  and  30,  D  E  F. 

Solution. —  10  is  the  largest  number  that  will  exactly  divide 
40,  20,  10,  and  30;  therefore,  the  mixing  should  be  made  up  of  10 
sections,  and  in  order  to  prevent  any  two  bales  of  the  same  mark 
coming  in  contact  with  each  other,  they  could  be  arranged  as  follows: 


•  10  times.     Ans. 


GH  I 

DEF 

A  BC 

J  KL 

DE  F 

A  BC 

GH  I 

A  BC 

DEF 

A  BC 

§16  PICKERS  9 

15.  It  is  the  practice  in  some  mills  to  go  over  the  covers 
of  the  bales  after  the  cotton  has  been  removed  and  pick  off 
the  loose  pieces  of  cotton  adhering  to  them.  This  is  a  prac- 
tice that  should  only  be  encouraged  to  a  small  degree,  as  the 
amount  of  cotton  obtained  is  hardly  suflficient  to  pay  for  the 
time  occupied  in  its  removal,  and  there  is  also  a  liability  of 
jute  fibers  from  the  burlap  becoming  mixed  with  the  cotton 
and  causing  poor  work  in  the  subsequent  processes. 

16.  Mixing  Different  Varieties  of  Cotton. — The  sub- 
ject as  it  has  been  treated  refers  only  to  mixings  where  the 
cotton  of  different  marks  is  all  approximately  of  the  same 
grade.  Where  it  is  desired  to  blend  cotton  of  different  vari- 
eties for  special  purposes,  it  is  not  necessary  that  it  should 
be  done  in  the  mixing.  For  example,  where  it  is  desired  to 
mix  exact  proportions  of  different  varieties,  as  American  with 
Egyptian,  or  where  dyed  stock  of  one  color,  or  more,  is  to 
be  blended  with  white,  the  cotton  may  be  blended  to  better 
advantage  at  some  of  the  subsequent  processes. 

Different  growths  of  cotton  are  sometimes  mixed  together 
for  special  purposes.  Thus,  American  cotton  is  mixed  with 
Egyptian  in  order  to  cheapen  the  mixture,  Egyptian  cotton 
usually  being  higher  priced  than  American.  By  this  means 
a  yarn  is  produced  that  practically  has  the  qualities  of  a  pure 
Egyptian  yarn;  and  yet  the  cost  is  less  than  that  of  pure 
Egyptian.  Brazilian  cotton  is  sometimes  mixed  with  Amer- 
ican in  order  to  increase  the  strength  of  the  yarn,  as  Brazilian 
has  a  strong,  wiry  staple;  while  rough  Peruvian  cotton  is 
mi^ed  with  Egyptian  in  order  to  give  the  latter  woolly 
qualities,  the  Peruvian  being  of  a  harsh,  crisp  nature. 

Although  cotton  is  often  mixed  in  this  way,  it  must  be 
understood  that  there  is  a  certain  limit  to  the  mixing  of  harsh 
and  soft  cottons,  as  they  do  not  give  the  same  results  under  the 
same  treatment  in  the  subsequent  processes;  nor  is  it  practical 
to  mix  long-  and  short-stapled  cotton,  as  the  machines  of  the 
later  processes  are  set  according  to  the  length  of  the  staple, 
and  if  set  for  one  length  of  staple  will  either  damage  cotton 
of  a  different  length  or  cause  an  imperfect  product. 


10  PICKERS  §16 


BALE     BREAKER 

1 7.     Description. — A  machine  known  as  a  bale  breaker 

is  sometimes  used  in  mixing  cotton.  Its  object  is  to  sepa- 
rate the  matted  masses  of  cotton  as  they  come  from  the  bale 
and  to  deliver  the  cotton  in  an  open  state  to  the  mixing  bins. 
This  machine,  consequently,  does  the  work  that  is  performed 
by  hand  in  hand  mixings.  When  using  a  bale  breaker  for 
mixing  cotton,  a  good  method  is  to  have  about  six  bales 
open  around  the  feed-end  of  the  machine  and  to  take  a 
layer  of  cotton  in  rotation  from  the  top  of  each  bale.  The 
principle  employed  to  attain  the  object  of  the  bale  breaker 
is  to  have  three  or  four  pair  of  rolls,  each  pair  revolving  at 
a  higher  rate  of  speed  than  the  preceding  pair.  The  cotton 
fed  to  the  pair  that  is  revolving  at  a  slow  speed,  is  pulled 
apart  when  it  comes  under  the  action  of  the  pair  revolving 
at  a  faster  speed.  Fig.  1  shows  a  view  of  a  bale  breaker 
with  conveying  aprons  attached,  while  Fig.  2  gives  an  illus- 
tration of  the  different  sets  of  rolls  that  act  on  the  cotton  and 
constitute  the  principal  mechanism  of  this  machine.  Refer- 
ring to  these  two  figures,  the  cotton  is  taken  from  the  bales 
and  placed  on  the  horizontal  apron  a,  which  is  moving  in  the 
direction  shown  by  the  arrow.  As  the  cotton  reaches  the  first 
set  of  rolls,  it  is  gripped  and  carried  forwards  to  the  next  set, 
each  pair  of  rolls  having  a  greater  circumferential  velocity 
than  the  preceding  pair,  the  circumferential  velocity  of  the 
second  pair  being  about  twice  that  of  the  first  pair,  while  the 
circumferential  velocity  of  the  third  pair  is  about  four  times 
that  of  the  second,  and  the  last  pair  about  five  times  that 
of  the  third.  The  first  set  of  rolls  usually  makes  between 
5  and  6  revolutions  per  minute. 

The  space  between  the  different  sets  of  rolls  will  be  found 
to  vary  with  different  makes,  but  usually  from  the  center  of 
one  pair  to  the  center  of  the  next  is  about  9  inches.  The 
upper  roll  of  each  set  rotates  in  bearings  having  a  vertical 
movement,  but  held  down  by  means  of  strong  springs  /' 
connected  with  the  upper  rolls  by  means  of  the  rods  c.  By 
this    means   the  upper   rolls   are   allowed    to   give  when  an 


§16 


PICKERS 


11 


12 


PICKERS 


§16 


excess  of  cotton  passes  between'  the  rolls.  In  the  bale 
breaker  shown  in  these  illustrations,  the  pair  of  rolls  far- 
thest from  the  feed-end  of  the  machine  is  the  largest,  being 
nearly  9  inches  in  outside  diameter,  while  all  the  other  rolls 
are  Ti  inches  in  outside  diameter.  These  rolls  will  be  found 
to  vary  in  construction,  in  some  cases  being  solid  with  flutes 
their  whole  length,  while  in  other  cases  they  are  made  up 
of  rings  having  projecting  spikes  and  placed  side  by  side  on 
a  core  in  such  a  manner  that  when  a  spike  breaks  it  is  simply 
necessary  to  replace  the  ring  containing  the  broken  spike. 


Fig.  2 

A  somewhat  different  arrangement  of  the  rolls  is  shown  in 
Fig.  3,  in  which  a  series  of  nosed  levers  d  are  made  to  take 
the  place  of  the  lower  roll  of  the  first  set. 

The  cotton  as  it  leaves  the  last  set  of  rolls  drops  to 
the  lower  apron  <?,  Fig.  1,  which  conveys  it  to  the  lifting 
aprons/,/,.  These  lifting  aprons  have  their  inner  surfaces 
moving  in  the  same  direction  and  sufficiently  close  together 
to  prevent  the  cotton  dropping  down.  The  aprons  are  built 
of  wooden  laths,  with  rounded  edges,  fastened  to  endless 
leather  belts.      It  is  customary  to   construct   the   elevating 


§16 


PICKERS 


13 


aprons  with  laths  at  intervals  that  project  higher  than  the 
rest,  and  thus  convey  the  cotton  more  positively  than  if  all 
are  of  the  same  thickness.  From  these  elevating  aprons 
the  cotton  is  delivered  to  horizontal  aprons,  which  carry  the 
stock  to  the  different  mixing  bins. 

18.  Care  of  Bale  Breakers. — There  are  several  points 
that  should  receive  attention  in  the  care  of  bale  breakers. 
The  cotton  should  not  be  fed  in  too  thick  layers,  since  this 


Fig.  3 

is  liable  to  strain  the  rolls;  all  the  dirt  from  underneath  the 
machine,  which  consists  chiefly  of  sand  and  other  foreign  sub- 
stances that  drop  from  the  cotton  as  it  is  pulled  apart,  should 
be  removed  periodically;  and  what  is  more  important,  the 
machine  should  be  properly  oiled.  The  aprons  should  also 
be  adjusted  so  that  they  will  not  come  in  contact  with  each 
other  at  any  point.  


PICKER  ROOMS 

19.  The  room  containing  the  machinery  through  which 
the  cotton  passes  during  its  first  stages  of  manufacture  is 
known  as  the  picker  room,  and  its  equipment  for  medium 
counts  generally  consists  of  an  automatic  feeder,  opener, 
breaker    picker,    intermediate    picker,    and    finisher    picker. 


14  PICKERS  §16 

Where  the  bale  breaker  is  used,  that,  also,  may  be  found 
in  this  room,  although  it  is  usually  in  the  mixing  room. 
Other  machines,  in  some  cases,  may  also  be  found  in  this 
room,  such  as  waste  openers  and  waste  breakers.  In  mills 
using  long-stapled  cotton  and  producing  fine  yarns,  either 
the  intermediate  or  the  intermediate  and  finisher  pickers 
would  be  omitted  from  the  above  list  in  order  to  lessen  the 
beating  action. 

20.  Liocation  of  Picker  Rooms. — The  picker  room  is 
sometimes  located  in  a  building  some  distance  from  the  main 
mill,  but  if  it  is  a  part  of  the  main  building,  it  should  be 
separated  by  a  fireproof  partition  or  wall.  The  machinery 
located  in  this  room  being  a  heavy  type  of  cotton-mill  machin- 
ery and  running  at  a  very  high  rate  of  speed,  also  dealing 
with  stock  in  a  very  unclean  condition,  necessitates  these 
precautions,  since,  if  the  swiftly  moving  parts  of  the  machin- 
ery come  in  contact  with  any  foreign  matter  of  a  hard 
nature,  a  fire  will  in  almost  every  case  occur  and  spread 
throughout  the  cotton.  Fires  occur  more  frequently  in  the 
earlier  processes  of  the  manipulation  of  the  raw  stock  than  at 
any  other  time.  Therefore,  the  planning  of  the  rooms  and  the 
arrangement  of  the  machinery  in  them  must  be  given  very 
careful  attention.  

ARRANGEMENT    OF    MACHINES 

21.  In  large  mills,  usually  two  rooms  at  least  are 
devoted  to  the  mixing  and  picking,  the  mixing,  feeding,  and 
opening  being  generally  carried  on  in  one  room,  while  the 
breaker,  intermediate,  and  finisher  pickers  are  located  in 
another  room.  Fig.  4  shows  such  an  arrangement.  With 
the  machines  arranged  as  shown  in  this  figure,  the  cotton  will 
be  opened  on  the  first  floor  and  then  fed  to  the  automatic 
feeder  a,  passing  from  this  to  the  opener  b  and  then  by 
trunking  c  to  the  breaker  picker  d,  which  is  located  on  the 
second  floor.  From  the  breaker  picker,  the  cotton  passes  to 
the  intermediate  picker  <?,  while  the  finisher  picker  /  takes 
the  cotton  from  the  intermediate.  In  case  a  bale  breaker 
were  used  with  this  arrangement,  it  would  be  situated  in  the 


^     I 


§16  PICKERS  17 

opening  room  .^  and  aprons  would  be  so  arranged  that  the 
cotton  would  be  carried  from  the  bale  breaker  to  mixing 
bins  situated  in  such  a  position  behind  the  automatic  feeders 
that  the  cotton  could  be  conveniently  handled. 

22.  Fig.  5  shows  a  very  similar  arrangement  to  that 
shown  in  Fig.  4.  In  this  figure,  however,  a  different  method 
of  connecting  the  breaker  picker  and  opener  is  adopted. 
The  feeder  is  shown  at  a  and  the  opener  at  b.  From  the 
opener  the  cotton  is  conveyed  to  the  breaker  picker  d  by 
means  of  a  horizontal  trunk  c.  The  intermediate  picker  e 
takes  the  cotton  from  the  breaker,  and  the  finisher  picker  / 
takes  it  from  the  intermediate. 

Many  different  arrangements  of  these  machines  will  be 
found  in  mills.  In  some  cases,  the  bale  breaker,  together 
with  the  automatic  feeder  and  opener,  is  located  on  the 
second  floor  and  connected  by  trunking  with  the  pickers, 
which  are  on  the  first  floor.  In  other  cases,  all  the  machines 
are  in  one  room.  In  Figs.  4  and  o,  a  dust  room  //  is  shown 
under  the  opening  room  j^.  This  is  usually  constructed  in 
the  basement,  and  to  it  are  conducted  the  dust  trunks  i.  The 
ends  of  these  trunks  are  usually  provided  with  automatic 
closing  dampers  /,  which  remain  closed  when  the  machine 
from  which  the  dirt  comes  is  not  in  operation.  By  this 
means,  a  draft  in  the  trunks  is  prevented  in  case  of  fire,  and 
any  back  draft  that  would  cause  dust  and  particles  of  dirt  to 
reenter  the  cotton  is  also  avoided. 


FEEDING  AND  OPENING 


AUTOMATIC    FEEDER 

23.  Principle. — The  automatic  feeder  is  the  first 
machine  that  receives  the  cotton  after  it  has  been  mixed,  and, 
as  its  name  indicates,  is  used  for  the  purpose  of  automat- 
ically supplying  or  feeding  another  machine. 

Formerly,  the  opener  or  breaker  picker  was  fed  by  one  of 
three  methods:  (1)  by  spreading  the  cotton  on  a  feed-apron 
by  hand,   the    amount    depending   on   the    judgment  of   the 


18  PICKERS  §16 

operator;  (2)  by  weighing  a -certain  amount  of  cotton  and 
spreading  it  by  hand  on  a  measured  space  on  a  feed-apron; 
(3)  by  presenting  a  portion  of  cotton  to  an  opening  in  a 
pneumatic  tube  and  allowing  it  to  be  drawn  in  by  the  air- 
current.  With  these  methods  it  was  very  difficult  to  obtain 
a  uniform  feed. 


Fig.  6 

The  principle  employed  in  the  automatic  feeder  is  that  of 
having  an  apron  with  projecting  spikes  carry  away  from  a 
mass  of  cotton  a  larger  quantity  than  is  required,  the  excess- 
ive amount  being  removed  by  suitable  mechanism  and  only 
that  portion  which  is  required  being  allowed  to  pass  forwards 
to  supply  the  next  machine.  Fig.  6  is  a  perspective  view  of 
the   automatic  feeder,  while    Fig.  7  shows  a  section.     The 


§16 


PICKERS 


19 


cotton  is  fed  by  the  operator  to  the  hopper  a,  which  should 
be  kept  at  least  half  full.  The  bottom  apron  a^  tends  to 
carry  the  whole  mass  toward  the  lifting^  apron  a^,  the  cot- 
ton being  retarded  slightly  by  friction  with  the  sides  of  the 
hopper.  The  spikes  in  the  lifting  apron  fill  with  fiber  from 
the  base  to  the  point,  and  often  retain  comparatively  large 
bunches  of  stock.  After  filling,  they  continue  to  move 
upwards,  and  the  tendency  for  so  large  a  number  of  points 


Fig.  7 


acting  on  the  mass  of  cotton  is  to  impart  a  rolling  motion 
to  it.  The  stripping  roll  b  acts  continuously  on  the  cotton 
carried  by  the  lifting  apron  as  it  arrives  at  the  point  nearest 
to  the  stripping  roll.  The  surface  of  this  roll,  moving  in  the 
opposite  direction  from  the  lifting  apron  and  only  about  1  inch 
from  the  point  of  the  spikes,  strikes  off  the  excess  cotton. 
The  cotton  remaining  on  the  lifting  apron  is  the  amount 
necessary  to  supply  the  machine  to  which  the  feeder  is 
attached,    and   must  be  removed  from  the  pins  carrying  it. 


20  PICKERS  §  16 

This  is  done  by  the  doffer  beater  r,  the  surface  of  which 
moves  in  the  same  direction  as  the  part  of  the  apron  near- 
est to  it,  but  at  a  greater  speed.  The  fibers  removed  from 
the  lifting  apron  are  in  small  tufts,  and  a  certain  quantity  of 
sand,  etc.  is  thrown  out  by  the  centrifugal  force  of  the  doffer 
beater  or  drops  by  its  own  weight.  This  passes  through  the 
bars  of  the  grating  d  into  the  chamber  n.  The  cotton  passes 
forwards  and  through  the  passage  e. 

A  feeder  is  sometimes  used  to  take  the  place  of  the  bale 
breaker  previously  described.  This  feeder  is  constructed  on 
practically  the  same  lines  as  the  one  illustrated  here,  although 
the  parts  are  made  much  heavier  in  order  to  withstand  the 
greater  strain  that  is  brought  on  them  on  account  of  dealing 
with  stock  directly  from  the  bale.  In  some  mills  running  fine 
counts,  the  bale  breaker  is  dispensed  with  and  two  automatic 
feeders  used,  the  cotton  as  it  comes  from  one  being  fed  into 
the  other.  In  such  cases  the  cotton,  of  course,  must  be 
opened  and  mixed  to  a  certain  extent  by  hand. 

24.  Liiftiiig  Apron. — The  lifting  apron  of  the  automatic 
feeder  as  generally  constructed  consists  of  an  endless  can- 
vas sheet  mounted  on  leather  belts,  to  which  it  is  fastened 
by  copper  rivets.  On  this  canvas  sheet  wooden  laths  are 
fastened  \\  inches  apart.  Set  in  the  laths  about  1  inch  apart 
are  steel  spikes  that  project  from  the  laths  about  1  inch.  It 
is  these  spikes  of  the  lifting  apron  that  convey  the  cotton  to 
the  point  desired  as  it  is  presented  to  them  by  the  feed-apron. 

25.  Stripping  Device. — Fig.  8  {a)  and  {b)  shows  detail 
views  of  the  stripping  device  found  on  the  feeder  shown  in 
Fig.  6.  It  consists  of  two  rolls  b,  b,  of  wood  mounted  on  an 
iron  core.  An  endless  leather  apron  g  passes  around  the 
rolls;  on  the  inside  of  the  apron  are  secured  strips  of  wood 
that  engage  with  grooves  in  the  rolls,  so  that  the  apron  ^ 
and  roll  />,  are  positively  driven  by  b.  These  rolls  are  not 
exactly  alike  in  every  respect,  as  the  one  nearer  the  lifting 
apron  carries  pins  that  project  through  elongated  holes  in  the 
apron,  as  shown  in  this  figure.  At  the  point  //  the  pins  strike 
the  excess  cotton  from  the  lifting  apron  back  into  the  hopper, 


§16 


PICKERS 


21 


while  that  which  adheres  to  the  pins  is  removed  as  the  roll 
revolves  and  the  pins  are  drawn  throu^jh  the  apron.  In  {fi) 
are  shown  the  adjustments  provided  for  regulating  the  dis- 
tance from  the  pins  of  the  stripper  comb  to  the  lifting  apron, 
and  thus  regulating  the  amount  of  excess  cotton  removed; 
the  adjustment  for  regulating  the  tension  of  the  apron  is  also 
shown.  In  order  to  regulate  the  distance  between  the  roll  b 
and  the  lifting  apron,  the  casting  that  supports  the  bearings 


Fig.  8 

of  this  roll  is  made  so  that  it  may  be  moved  on  the  frame- 
work by  loosening  the  bolts  at  k  and  turning  the  screw  p. 
The  tensionof  the  stripping  apron  is  regulated  by  the  screw/, 
wfiich  holds  the  bearing  of  the  roll  d,  in  position. 

A  stripping  device  that  differs  in  construction  from  that 
shown  in  Fig.  8  is  shown  in  the  two  sectional  views,  Fig.  9 
(a)  and  (d).  It  consists  of  a  metal  shell  that  contains  two 
shafts  a,  (I,,  which  have  bearings  in  the  circular  ends  of  the 
shell  and  are  capable  of  being  moved  in  these  bearings. 
These  shafts  carrj'^  castings  d,d,,  known  as  trailitig  levers. 
On  the  end  of  each  trailing  lever  are  studs  c,  <r,  that  work 


22 


PICKERS 


§16 


in  a  cam -course  d.  The 
cam  is  on  the  outside  of 
the  shell,  while  the  trailing 
levers  are  on  the  inside; 
slots  e,  e^  are  provided  in 
the  end  of  the  shell  for  the 
studs  to  project  through, 
and  also  in  order  that  they 
may  have  a  certain  free- 
dom of  movement. 

Supported  from  the 
shafts  a, a-,  by  means  of 
the  brackets  /, /,,  of  which 
there  are  several  in  the 
length  of  the  shell,  are  the 
shafts ^,<^..  Each  of  these 
shafts  carries  a  series  of 
^  pointed  rods  hji^  that  pro- 
i£  ject  through  the  surface 
of  the  shell.  As  the  shell 
revolves  and  the  cam  re- 
mains stationary,  an  oscil- 
lating motion  is  imparted 
to  the  shafts  a,  a^;  motion 
is^  also  given  to  the  shafts 
g.gy.,  which  results  in  one 
end  of  the  pointed  rods 
projecting  from  the  shell 
during  a  part  of  its  revolu- 
tion, while  at  other  times 
they  are  within  the  shell. 
In  Fig.  9  {a)  is  shown  a 
handle/ by  means  of  which 
the  position  of  the  cam 
may  be  regulated.  If  it 
is  desired  to  feed  more 
cotton,  the  position  of  the 
cam   is   changed   so   that 


§16  PICKERS  23 

the  points  will  not  project  so  far  at  the  point  where  they  are 
nearest  the  lifting  apron.  If  it  is  desired  to  feed  less  cotton, 
the  position  of  the  cam  is  so  changed  that  the  points  will 
project  farther  from  the  shell  when  nearest  the  lifting  apron 
and  thus  strike  ofif  more  cotton.  The  cam,  after  being 
placed  in  the  correct  position,  is  secured  by  a  setscrew. 

In  Fig.  9  id)  it  will  be  seen  that  when  one  end  of  a  pointed 
rod  is  projecting,  the  other  end  has  been  withdrawn  into  the 
shell.  By  this  means,  any  cotton  adhering  to  the  rod  is 
removed  and  falls  back  into  the  hopper. 

26.  Doffer  Beater. — The  doffer  beater  dififers  in  con- 
struction in  different  makes  of  machines.  In  some  cases  it 
consists  of  a  cylinder  carrying  four  rows  of  teeth  that  project 
about  2f  inches  from  the  cylinder,  each  row  containing  as 
many  teeth  as  there  are  teeth  in  one  row  on  a  slat  of  the 
lifting  apron.  Such  a  doffer  is  so  placed  that  one  of  its 
teeth  will  project  between  two  of  the  teeth  of  the  lifting 
apron  and  be  just  half  way  between  them.  By  this  means, 
as  the  doffer  revolves,  it  removes  the  cotton  from  the  lifting 
apron  and  drives  it  downwards  through  the  passage  pro- 
vided. In  other  cases  the  doffer,  instead  of  having  spikes  to 
remove  the  cotton  from  the  lifting  apron,  has  strips  of  heavy 
leather  projecting  about  2  inches  and  secured  to  horizontal 
pieces  of  wood  mounted  on  a  central  shaft,  while  in  still  other 
cases  the  doffer  beater  is  constructed  in  such  a  manner  that 
rows  of  spikes  will  alternate  with  strips  of  leather. 

Fig.  10  shows  a  perspective  view  of  an  automatic  feeder 
combined  with  an  opener,  while  Fig.  11  shows  a  sectional  view 
of  a  similar  arrangement.  The  feeder  shown  in  these  illus- 
trations differs  from  that  previously  described  principally  in 
regard  to  the  manner  in  which  it  regulates  the  amount  of 
cotton  fed.  By  referring  to  these  figures  it  will  be  noticed 
that  the  lifting  apron  is  driven  by  a  pair  of  cones,  the  ends 
of  which  are  shown  in  Fig.  11.  The  belt  guide  that  regulates 
the  position  of  the  belt  on  the  cones  is  shown  at,f^.  By  turn- 
ing the  hand  wheel  /,  Fig.  10,  the  belt  is  moved  on  the  cones 
and   the   speed   of    the    lifting  apron   regulated   as   may  be 


24 


PICKERS 


16 


26  PICKERS  §16 

desired.  The  connection  between  the  cones  and  the  lifting 
apron  is  described  later.  This  method  of  regulating  the 
feed  is  frequently  resorted  to,  as  it  affords  a  ready  means 
of  making  the  necessary  change.  It  will  be  seen  that,  if  the 
stripping  roll  should  be  moved  too  far  from  the  lifting  apron, 
the  cotton  would  be  liable  to  be  fed  in  lumps  and  thus  w^ould 
not  be  sufficiently  opened.  On  this  account  it  has  been  found 
to  be  advisable,  in  ordinary  cases,  to  increase  the  speed  of  the 
lifting  apron  when  it  is  desired  to  feed  more  cotton,  and  for 
this  reason  most  feeders,  as  now  built,  have  some  method  by 
which  the  speed  of  the  lifting  apron  may  be  regulated,  either 
by  the  cone  drive,  as  illustrated  above,  or  by  change  pulleys, 
change  gears,  or  step  cones.  The  regulation  of  the  speed  of 
the  lifting  apron,  as  well  as  the  position  of  the  stripping  roll 
to  give  a  required  weight  of  cotton  fed,  is  a  matter  of  experi- 
ment and  observation  and  depends  entirely  on  the  stock  used. 
The  passage  provided  in  this  machine  for  the  dirt  that  is 
struck  from  the  cotton  by  the  doffer  beater  consists  of  a  grid  d 
made  of  metal  bars  set  with  a  slight  space  between,  them. 

27.  Gearing. — The  gearing  of  the  automatic  feeder 
shown  in  Figs.  10  and  11  is  as  follows:  The  doffer  beater  is 
driven  from  the  countershaft  or  main  shaft  of  the  machine 
that  the  feeder  supplies  and  runs  at  a  speed  of  from  400  to 
500  revolutions  per  minute.  On  the  shaft  of  the  doffer  beater 
is  a  6-inch  pulley  that  drives  a  16-inch  pulley  on  the  bottom 
cone.  The  two  cones  are  6  inches  in  diameter  at  their  larger 
ends  and  3  inches  in  diameter  at  their  smaller  ends.  On  the 
shaft  of  the  top  cone,  a  gear  of  16  teeth  drives  a  gear  of 
69  teeth  on  a  shaft  that  extends  across  the  feeder.  A  gear 
of  17  teeth  on  this  shaft  drives  a  clutch  gear  of  58  teeth  on 
the  top  carrier  roll  of  the  lifting  apron.  This  top  carrier  roll 
is  9  inches  in  diameter.  The  feed-apron  is  driven  from  the 
bottom  bearing  shaft  of  the  lifting  apron,  on  which  there  is  a 
sprocket  gear  of  18  teeth,  which  drives,  by  means  of  a  chain, 
a  sprocket  gear  of  28  teeth  on  a  roll  supporting  the  feed- 
apron.  This  roll  is  3  inches  in  diameter.  The  wooden  roll, 
feed -apron     and   feed -rolls   of   the   opener   shown   in   these 


§J6  PICKERS  27 

illustrations  are  driven  by  means  of  a  chain  and  sprocket  gears 
from  the  shaft  of  the  top  carrier  roll  of  the  lifting  apron. 

28.  Capacity. — The  capacity  of  automatic  feeders  is 
very  great,  but  since  the  amount  of  work  they  do  is  gov- 
erned entirely  by  the  requirements  of  the  machine  they  feed, 
they  are  rarely  run  at  their  full  capacity.  Usually  about 
3,000  pounds  in  10  hours  is  the  maximum  amount  run 
through  a  feeder. 

29.  Care  of  Feeders. — In  order  that  feeders  may  per- 
form their  best  work,  they  should  be  kept  well  oiled.  The 
dirt  should  be  removed  periodically;  the  aprons  should  be 
kept  taut  b\^  the  tension  screws  provided  for  this  purpose; 
and  the  hopper  should  be  kept  at  least  half  full,  since  the 
less  cotton  there  is  in  the  hopper,  the  greater  is  the  liability 
of  the  lifting  apron  securing  an  insufficient  amount,  thus 
causing  the  weight  to  vary.  It  is  customary  for  one  man  to 
attend  to  about  ten  feeders  in  large  mills.  In  smaller  mills 
the  work  of  feeding  is  combined  with  other  duties. 

The  feeder  requires  from  I2  to  2  horsepower,  and  occupies 
a  floor  space  of  about  6  feet  4  inches  by  6  feet  6  inches. 


OPENER 

30.  The  oi>ener  is  not  used  in  all  mills,  as  the  auto- 
matic feeder  is  sometimes  connected  directly  to  the  breaker 
picker,  but  in  mills  where  this  machine  is  used  it  generally 
forms  a  combination  machine  with  the  automatic  feeder,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  10.  Technically,  the  automatic  feeder  ends 
with  the  doffer  beater,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  the  pin 
beater.  Fig.  11. 

The  opener  has  for  its  objects  the  cleaning  of  the  heavy 
impurities  from  the  cotton  and  the  separating  of  the  cotton 
into  small  tufts  that  are  light  enough  in  weight  to  be  influ- 
enced by  an  air-current  generated  by  a  fan  in  the  succeeding 
machine.  It  attains  these  objects  by  presenting  a  fringe 
of  cotton  to  a  beater  that  makes  from  1,200  to  1,800  revolu- 
tions per  minute.  This  beater  usually  has  two  blades,  and 
consequently  for  every  revolution  delivers  two  blows  to  the 


28  PICKERS  §16 

fringe  of  cotton.  By  this  means  anj^  foreign  substance  will  be 
struck  from  the  fringe  of  cotton  as  it  is  held  by  the  feed-rolls, 
and  knocked  through  the  grid  bars  shown  in  Fig.  11.  The 
tufts  of  cotton  will  also  be  removed  from  the  fringe  as  soon 
as  they  are  released  from  the  bite  of  the  feed-rolls,  and  thus 
they  will  be  sufficiently  light  to  be  acted  on  by  the  air-current 
that  conveys  the  cotton  to  the  next  machine. 

The  cotton  after  being  acted  on  by  the  doffer  beater  of  the 
automatic  feeder  falls  on  a  feed-apron,  and  being  separated 
into  small  tufts,  occupies  so  much  space  that  the  wooden  roll 
and  feed-rolls,  shown  in  Fig.  11.  are  used  to  condense  its 
bulk  before  being  presented  to  the  beater  of  the  opener. 

The  opener  alone  occupies  a  floor  space  of  about  5  feet  by 
6  feet  6  inches,  and  when  connected  with  a  feeder  occupies  a 
space  of  11  feet  4  inches  by  6  feet  6  inches.  It  requires  about 
3  horsepower  to  drive  it.  Openers  are  rarely  run  at  their  full 
capacity,  the  amount  of  cotton  they  are  made  to  deliver  depend- 
ing on  the  amount  required  to  supply  the  breaker  picker. 


TRUXKIXG 

31.  The  cotton  from  the  opener  is  carried  along  a  ti-unk 
to  the  next  machine  by  means  of  an  air-current  that  is  gen- 
erated by  a  fan.  This  fan  exhausts  the  air  in  the  trunk,  and 
thus  the  air  in  the  room  containing  the  feeder  enters  through 
the  openings  between  the  grate  bars  in  the  opener,  and  carries 
the  cotton  with  it  as  it  passes  through  the  trunk  to  the  fan. 

The  various  forms'  of  trunks  are  as  follows:  (1)  plain 
conducti7ig  triaiks,  (2)  horizo7ital  cleaning  trunks,  (3)  inclined 
cleaning  trunks. 

32.  A  plain  condiictinja:  trunk  consists  of  a  circular 
tube  of  sheet  metal  from  10  to  13  inches  in  diameter.  It 
should  have  easy  curves  wherever  the  tube  bends,  and  should 
contain  sufficient  doors  for  cleaning  purposes.  The  inner 
surface  should  be  smooth,  so  as  to  cause  as  little  friction  as 
possible  in  the  transit  of  the  cotton.  These  trunks  are 
used  simply  to  conduct  cotton  from  one  point  to   another. 

Horizontal  cleaning:  trunks  are  constructed  of  wood 
and  contain   doors   for   the  removal  of   the  dirt,   also   grids 


30 


PICKERS 


§16 


through   which   the    dirt    falls.     They   may   be    built    either 
shallow  and  wide,  or  narrow  and  deep. 

Inclined  cleaning  ti'unks  are  of  the  same  construction 
as  horizontal  cleaning  trunks,  but  have  an  inclined  position. 

33.  Fig.  12  {a),  (d),  and  (c)  shows  a  horizontal  cleaning 
trunk  supported  by  rods  /  placed  about  10  feet  apart  on  each 
side  of  the  trunk.  In  the  center  of  the  trunk  are  connec- 
tions for  sprinklers  ?-.  A  section  of  this  trunk  is  shown 
in  Fig.  12  (d).  The  upper  part  is  a  clear  passage,  along 
which  the  cotton  is  carried  over  a  grating  a.  During  this 
passage  of  the  cotton,  any  foreign  matter  that  is  too  heavy 
to  be  carried  along  with  the  cotton  by  the  force  of  the  air- 
current,  will  drop  through  the  grating  a  into,  the  pockets  d. 


Fig.  13 


The  portion  of  the  trunk  containing  the  grating  is  called  a 
cleaning  trunk  and  does  not  extend  the  entire  length  of  the 
trunk,  the  remainder  being  simply  a  conducting  trunk. 
Forming  the  bottom  of  each  pocket  d  are  doors  c  hinged  at  d, 
below  which  is  another  passage  e,  which  has  a  door  at  each 
end.  Connecting  with  this  passage  ^  is  a  trunk  /,  which 
extends  to  the  dust  room  and  contains  a  fan  ^. 

When  it  is  desired  to  remove  the  dirt  that  has  fallen 
through  the  grating,  the  breaker  picker  is  first  stopped;  the 
springs  that  hold  the  doors  are  released;  and  the  doors 
fall,  delivering  the  dirt  into  the  passage  e.  The  doors  c  are 
then  closed  by  means  of  the  handles  7,  and  the  doors  at  each 


§16 


PICKERS 


31 


32  PICKERS  §16 

end  of  the  passage  e  opened.  The  fan  g  creates  a  current 
of  air  in  the  passage  <?,  which  carries  the  dirt  to  the  dust 
room.  The  positions  that  the  doors  assume  at  various  times 
during  this  process  are  shown  in  Fig.  12  (c). 

If  the  breaker  picker  were  not  stopped  during  this  process, 
the  air-current  of  this  machine  would  tend  to  draw  the  dirt 
back  into  the  cotton  when  the  doors  c  were  opened.  The 
air-current  of  the  breaker  picker  would  also  act  against  the 
air-current  of  the  fan  g  if  both  were  running. 

34.  Another  style  of  horizontal  trunk  is  shown  in  Fig.  13. 
The  passage  for  the  cotton  and  the  grating  are  constructed 
on  the  same  principles  as  those  just  described;  but  the 
trunk  /  for  removing  the  dirt,  instead  of  being  at  the  end, 
extends  along  the  side  of  the  main  trunk.  When  it  is  desired 
to  remove  the  dirt,  the  doors  c,  which  are  made  of  wood  and 
supported  by  the  latch  .r,  are  dropped  by  pulling  the  ringx,, 
thus  causing  the  latch  to  be  pulled  off  its  support.  This 
forms  an  incline  down  which  the  dirt  slides  into  the  trunk  /. 
In  order  to  prevent  the  dirt  from  falling  off  the  sides  of  the 
door  c  when  it  is  lowered,  there  are  boards  k  that  form  sides 
as  the  door  c  drops  between  them. 

35.  One  style  of  an  inclined  cleaning  trunk  is  shown  in 
Fig.  14  {a)  and  {b).  This  trunk  contains  the  usual  grating  a, 
over  which  the  cotton  passes,  while  the  dirt  and  other  foreign 
substances  fall  through  this  grating  into  the  pockets  b.  The 
bottom  of  these  pockets  is  formed  by  c,  which  is  capable  of 
being  raised  or  lowered  by  the  lever  /.  The  position  that 
the  bottom  ordinarily  occupies  is  shown  in  Fig.  14  (a); 
when,  however,  it  is  desired  to  remove  the  dirt  from  the 
pockets  b,  the  lever  j  is  brought  into  the  position  shown  in 
Fig.  14  {b) .  In  this  case  the  bottom  c  is  lowered  into  the 
position  shown,  causing  the  dirt  from  the  different  pockets 
to  fall  out  into  the  chamber  e  and  slide,  by  its  own  weight, 
down  the  incline  into  the  dust  chamber. 


PICKERS 

(PART  2) 


COTTON    PICKEKS 


BREAKER    PICKERS 


METHODS    OF    FEEDING 

1.  The  breaker  picker  is  the  first  machine  that  deals 
with  the  cotton  after  it  leaves  the  opener.  This  machine 
may  receive  the  cotton  either  directly  from  an  automatic 
feeder,  or  from  an  opener  through  a  trunk;  in  the  latter 
case,  the  cotton  first  comes  in  contact  with  either  a  con- 
dejiser  and  gauge  box  or  a  cage  section.  When  the  breaker 
picker  is  fed  directly  from  an  automatic  feeder,  the  cotton  is 
generally  dropped  on  an  apron,  from  which  it  is  taken  by  the 
feed-rolls  of  the  picker. 

2.  The  Condenser  and  Gaugre  Box. — The  manner  of 
feeding  the  picker  by  means  of  a  condenser  and  jjaujre 
box,  when  the  cotton  is  conveyed  through  a  trunk  from  the 
opener,  is  shown  in  Fig.  1.  The  air-current  that  draws  the 
cotton  from  the  opener  through  the  trunk  a  is  generated  by 
a  fan  b.  After  leaving  the  trunk,  the  cotton  first  comes  in 
contact  with  a  cylinder  of  wire  netting  known  as  a  cage, 
shown  at  c.  About  two-thirds  of  the  inner  circumference  of 
this  cage  is  protected  by  a  cradle  d  of  sheet  metal,  which 
prevents  the  cotton  from  being  drawn  to  this  protected  par*- 

For  notice  of  copyright,  see  page  immediately  following  the  title  page 


PICKERS 


§17 


of  the  cage,  the  air-current  passing  out  through  the  ends  of 
the  cage  and  down  the  passage  ^,.  The  cradle  d  remains 
stationary,  but  the  cage  c  revolves  in  the  direction  shown  by 
the  arrow,  and  thus  the  cotton,  which  is  drawn  to  that  part 
of  the  cage  that  is  not  protected  by  the  cradle,  is  brought 
around  until  it  comes  under  the  action  of  the  stripping 
rolls  /,^,  which  remove  it  from  the  cage.     The  roll  /  is  held 


Fig.  1 

in  position  in  pivoted  bearings  by  the  lever  h,  so  that  it  wall 
be  as  close  to  the  cage  as  the  bulk  of  cotton  passing  will 
permit.  The  cotton  then  drops  into  the  gauge  box  j  and  on 
to  the  apron  k,  from  which  it  is  removed  by  the  feed-rolls  /,  /,, 
of  the  breaker  picker. 

The  condenser  is  usiially  understood  to  consist  of  the  upper 
part  of  the  arrangement  shown  in  Fig.  1,  including  the  parts 
marked  c,  d,  f,g,  and  h. 


§17  PICKERS  3 

3.  The  cotton  that  passes  through  the  picker  is  wound  in 
the  form  of  a  sheet  on  a  lap  roll  v,  shown  at  the  front  of  the 
machine  in  Fig.  1,  the  lap  that  the  cotton  forms  being 
marked  x.  When  the  lap  is  removed,  the  feeder  that  supplies 
this  machine  is  usually  stopped  and  also  all  parts  of  the  breaker 
picker  except  the  beaters,  fans,  and  revolving  parts  of  the 
condenser.       Since    the    fans    continue    to  run  during  this 


Fig.  2 

period,  the  cotton  that  is  in  the  trunk  a  \\\\\  be  delivered  to 
the  picker.  It  is  the  object  of  the  condenser  and  gauge  box 
to  take  care  of  this  stock  and  thus  prevent  the  passage  from 
becoming  blocked,  by  the  cotton  coming  from  the  trunk. 
With  the  arrangement  shown  in  Fig.  1,  the  cotton  collects, 
while  the  picker  is  stopped,  in  the  gauge  box  j  until  it  is 
completely  filled,  when  any  more  cotton  coming  from  the 


PICKERS 


§17 


trunking  will  fall  over  the  top  of  the  partition  m;  it  can  then 
be  removed  by  means  of  the  door  n  and  returned  to  the 
mixing.  When  the  picker  and  feeder  are  restarted,  the 
amount  of  cotton  that  is  in  the  gauge  box  j  will  supply 
the  feed-rolls  /,  K  of  the  picker  until  sufficient  cotton  is 
coming  through  the  trunk  a. 

Fig.  2  is  a  perspective  view  of  a  picker  with  a  condenser 
and  gauge  box. 

4.     Cage  Section. — A  sectional  view  of  a  breaker  picker 
that  receives  the  cotton  by  means  of  a  cage,  or  screen,  section 


Fig.  3 

is  shown  in  Fig.  3,  while  Fig.  4  is  a  perspective  view.  An 
air-current  generated  by  a  fan  b  draws  the  cotton  from  an 
opener  through  a  trunk  a  to  two  cages,  or  screens,  <:,<:,. 
These  cages  are  protected  so  that  as  the  air-current  passes 
out  through  their  ends,  down  the  flue  bi  to  the  dust  room, 
the  cotton  is  drawn  to  the  portions  of  their  circumferences 
nearest  the  delivery  end  of  the  trunk  a  and,   as  the  cages 


§17 


PICKERS 


revolve  in  the  direction  shown  by  the  arrows,  is  condensed 
in  a  sheet   between  them;  it  is  removed  by  the  stripping 


Fig.  4 


rolls  /,^  on  to  a  stripping  plate  r,  from  which  it  is  removed 
by  the  feed-rolls  /,  h  of  the  picker. 


CONSTRUCTION     AND    OPERATION     OF    THE 
BREAKJZR    IMCKER 

5.  Objects  of  the  Breaker  Picker. — The  objects  of 
the  breaker  picker  are:  (1)  To  remove  foreign  matter, 
especially  the  heavier  and  larger  impurities,  such  as  dirt, 
pieces  of  seed,  leaf,  etc.;  (2)  to  separate  the  tufts  of  cotton 
so  that  they  may  be  more  easily  manipulated  at  the  next 
process;  (8)  to  form  the  cotton  into  a  layer  and  wind  it  on 
a  roll  in  a  cylindrical  form  known  as  a  lap. 


^17  PICKERS  7 

The  method  used  to  attain  these  objects  is  to  have  a  rapidly 
revolving  beater  strike  a  fringe  of  cotton,  which  is  presented 
to  it  by  a  slowly  revolving  pair  of  feed-rolls,  thus  breaking 
up  the  sheet  of  cotton  into  small  tufts  and  striking  off  any 
foreign  matter  in  the  cotton.  The  process  of  cleaning  is  also 
aided  by  an  air-current,  which  draws  dust  from  the  cotton 
through  screens,  or  cages,  to  which  it  is  being  drawn.  These 
cages  revolve  and  deliver  the  cotton  in  a  sheet  ready  to  be 
wound  into  a  lap  by  means  of  a  lap  liead. 

6.  Pickers  are  known  as  pickers  in  single  section  or  pickers 
in  doxible  section  according  to  whether  they  give  a  single  or 
a  double  beating  action  to  the  stock  passing  through  them. 
Breaker  pickers  in  single  section  are  shown  in  Figs.  1,  2, 
3,  and  4.  The  passage  of  cotton  through  breaker  pickers  in 
single  section,  whether  they  are  fed  by  a  condenser  and 
gauge  box,  as  in  Fig.  1,  or  by  a  cage  section,  as  in  Fig.  3, 
is  the  same.  Referring  to  Fig.  1,  after  the  cotton  delivered 
by  the  feed-rolls  /,  /^  has  been  struck  by  the  rapidly  revolving 
beater  a^,  it  passes  over  grid  bars  c.  in  order  that  any  dirt  or 
other  foreign  matter  may  be  separated  and  fall  through  the 
spaces  between  the  bars.  Then  it  is  carried  over  inclined 
cleaning,  or  grate,  bars  /  so  that  other  foreign  matter,  too 
heavy  to  be  carried  by  the  air-current,  may  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  dropping  through  the  spaces  between  the  bars.  This 
cleaning  process  is  continued  while  the  cotton  collects  in  a 
layer  on  the  surface  of  two  revolving  cages,  or  screens,  ^,  d',, 
through  which  a  current  of  air  is  drawn  by  a  revolving  fan  k. 
The  cotton,  now  in  the  form  of  a  sheet  or  layer,  is  removed 
by  stripping  rolls  p,  and  allowed  to  pass  over  a  stripping 
plate  r,  between  smooth  calender,  or  presser,  rolls  5,  5,,  ^,,53, 
between  rolls  s^  and  /,  and  around  the  lap  roll  v  that  rests  on 
the  fluted  calender  rolls  /,  /,,  thus  forming  the  lap  x. 

7.  Fig.  5  shows  a  section  through  a  breaker  picker  in 
double  section  with  what  is  known  as  a  porcjipine  beater. 
This  picker  is  connected  directly  to  an  automatic  feeder 
by  means  of  an  apron,  a  portion  of  which  is  shown.  In 
case   a  picker  in   double   section   is    fed    by   trunking   from 


PICKERS 


§17 


an  opener  and  feeder  combined,  the  cotton  is  delivered  to 
a  cage  section  similar  to  that  shown  in  Fig.  3,  while  a 
beater  of  the  type  shown  at  «,,  Fig.  5,  usually  replaces  the 
porcupine  beater. 

Referring  to  Fig.  5,  as  the  cotton  is  delivered  to  the 
picker  by  the  feed-apron,  it  is  taken  by  feed-rolls  b,  b^,  from 
which  it  is  struck  by  a  beater  a  that  is  rapidly  revolving  in 
the  direction  shown  by  the  arrow.  It  then  passes  over  grid 
bars  <r,  through  which  dirt  and  other  foreign  matter  fall;  then 
over  inclined  cleaning,  or  grate,  bars  /  to  cages  ^,  ^i,  from 
which  it  is  delivered  in  a  sheet  to  rolls  //.  These  rolls 
deliver  it  to  a  stripping  plate  //,,  from  which  it  is  taken  by 


Fig.  6 

rolls  y  and  delivered  to  a  beater  a^,  which  strikes  it  down 
over  grid  bars  /.  It  then  passes  over  cleaning  bars  m  to 
cages  ;/,  ?/,,  which  deliver  it  in  a  sheet  to  rolls  p,  from 
which  it  passes  over  a  stripping  plate  r;  then  between 
rolls  5,  5,;  5^,,  s.,;  s.,  S:,;  under  roll  ^4,  over  roll  /,  and  is  finally 
wound  in  the  form  of  a  lap  on  a  lap  roll  v. 

8.  Types  of  Beaters. — There  are  several  types  of 
beaters,  that  known  as  a  porcupine  beater  being  shown  in 
elevation  at  a,  Fig.  5,  and  in  perspective  in  Fig.  6;  it  con- 
sists of  steel  projections  riveted  to  circular  metal  plates. 
This  style  is  a  special  make  and  is  most  frequently  found  on 
openers.     A  carding  beater  is  shown  in  section  in  Fig.  7, 


§17 


PICKERS 


9 


and  in  perspective  in  Fig.  8;  this  beater  has  been  adopted  in 
recent  years.  It  consists  of  three  wooden  lags  a^  a,  a  that  are 
securely  fastened  to  the  arms  b,  b,  b  of  the  beater,  which  is 
mounted  on  the  shaft  c.  Steel  pins  d,  d,  d,  arranged  spirally, 
project  from  the  lags,  those  pins  that  first  come  in  contact 
with  the  cotton  being  shorter  than  the  others,  as  shown  in 
Figs.  7  and  8.  With  this  arrange- 
ment, the  pins  penetrate  and  break 
up  the  cotton,  and  as  they  enter 
it  gradually,  the  strain  incident  to 
the  operation  of  picking  is  almost  i], 
equally  distributed  among  them, 
causing  the  beater  to  combine  a 
carding  and  a  beating  action. 
The  carding  beater  is  used  to 
the  greatest  extent  in  breaker 
pickers  and  sometimes,  though 
not  often,  in  intermediate  pickers. 

Another  type,  and  one  that  is  more  commonly  met  with, 
is  known  as  the  ordinary  knife,  or  rigid-blade,  beater. 
A  two-  and  a  three-blade  beater  of  this  type  are  shown  in 
perspective  in  Figs.  9  and  10,  respectively.  The  edges  of 
the  blades  should  not  have  a  knife  edge,  neither  should  they 

4 


Fig.  7 


be  too  blunt.  As  soon  as  the  edges  wear,  the  beater  should 
be  turned  around  so  that  the  other  edges  of  the  blades  will 
come  in  contact  with  the  fringe  of  cotton.  When  both 
sides  are  dull,  suflficient  metal  should  be  planed  from  the 
blades  to  give  two  new  edges  on  each.     Sometimes,  beaters 


10 


PICKERS 


17 


are  constructed  with  hardened  steel  edges  fastened  to  the 
blades;  these  edges  may  be  replaced  when  necessary. 

9.  Action  of  the  Beater. — The  action  of  the  beater  is 
the  most  important  part  of  picking;  for  it  is  desired  not  only 
to  clean  the  cotton,  but  also  to  do  this  with  as  little  injury 


Fig.  9 

to  the  fibers  as  possible.  The  speed  of  the  beater  must 
therefore  be  so  regulated  that  the  blades  will  not  strike  the 
cotton  too  often  and  thus  injure  the  staple;  neither  should 
the  speed  be  so  low  that  they  will  not  strike  the  cotton  often 
enough  and  thus  not  clean  it  sufficiently.  Beaters  as  a  rule 
should  not  strike  more  than  about  60  nor  less  than  20  blows 
per  inch  of  cotton  fed. 

The  speeds  of  beaters  vary  considerably,  but  the  following 


Fig.  10 

are   about    the   maximum    and    minimum    for    the    different 
machines  and  types: 

Porcupine  beater,  30  inches  in  diameter,  in  opener,  500  to 
600  revolutions  per  minute;  18-inch,  two-blade,  ordinary  knife 
beater  in  breaker,  1,400  to  1,600  revolutions  per  minute; 
20-inch,  three-blade,  ordinary  knife  beater  in  breaker,  850  to 


§17 


PICKERS 


11 


•1,050  revolutions  per  minute;  16-inch,  two-blade,  ordinary 
knife  beater  in  intermediate  or  finisher,  1,250  to  1,500  revo- 
lutions per  minute;  18-inch,  two-blade,  ordinary  knife  beater 
in  intermediate  or  finisher,  1,200  to  1,450  revolutions  per 
minute;  18-inch,  three-blade,  ordinary  knife  beater  in  inter- 
mediate or  finisher,  800  to  950  revolutions  per  minute. 

10.  The  fnvUl  bars  through  which  the  beater  knocks  the 
impurities  are  important  agents  in  the  cleaning  of  the  cotton. 
They  are  triangular  in  section  and  extend  from  one  side  of 


Fig. 11 

the  machine  to  the  other.  There  are  a  sufficient  number  of 
them  to  occupy  an  arc  of  a  circle  extending  for  about  a 
quarter  of  the  path  of  the  beater.  When  using  1-inch 
American  cotton,  the  bar  nearest  the  feed-roll  is  usually  set 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  beater  blade  in  revolving  will  be 
about  2  inch  from  it  when  at  its  nearest  point,  while  the  last 
bar  should  be  about  f  inch  from  the  beater  blade  when  at  its 
nearest  point.  Thus,  the  arc  of  the  circle  formed  by  the 
bars  is  not  concentric  with  that  formed  by  the  path  of  the 
beater  blade.     The  reason  for  setting  the  bars  in  this  manner 


12 


PICKERS 


§17 


is  that  the  cotton  expands  and  tends  to  fly  from  the  beater 
blade,  as  the  beater  revolves,  and  thus  would  come  against 
the  bars  if  they  were  too  near.  The  angle  at  which  the  bars 
are  set,  as  well  as  the  distance  between  them,  also  form 
important  points  in  the  setting  of  this  part  of  the  picker. 
The  bars  close  to  the  feed-roll  should  have  more  space 
between  them  than  those  more  distant.  For  1-inch  American 
cotton,  there  is  usually  about  2  inch  from  edge  to  edge  of  the 
first  three  bars,  while  the  lower  bars  are  about  t  inch  apart. 


Fig. 12 


11.  An  adjustment  for  setting  the  grid  bars  is  shown 
in  Fig.  11.  The  upper  six  bars  a  are  of  the  ordinary  pattern 
and  through  these  the  heavier  forms  of  leaf  and  dirt  are 
ejected  by  the  action  of  the  beater.  The  dirt  that  passes 
through  these  bars  falls  into  a  separate  chamber,  and,  as  the 
small  capacity  of  this  chamber  will  prevent  any  strong  cur- 
rent issuing  in  the  opposite  direction  through  the  bars,  the 
impurities  are  prevented  from  returning.  This  advantage  is 
further  augmented  by  arranging  the  last  five  bars  b  so  that 
they  are  adjustable.  By  this  means  an  almost  perfect  regu- 
lation of  the  current  of  air  passing  upwards  through  the 
bars  a  can  be  obtained;  for,  the  more  air  passing  through 
the  bars  /',  the  less  will  pass  through  the  bars  a.     The  bars  b 


§17 


PICKERS 


13 


are  also  arranged  to  prevent  by  their  shape,  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, any  return  of  dirt  that  may  be  driven  through  them  by 
the  beater.  The  adjustment  is  made  by  means  of  sliding 
plates  b,,  into  which  the  lower  parts  of  the  bars  loosely  fit. 
These  plates  can  be  moved  backwards  or  forwards  by  a 
handle  c,  which,  when  set  correctly,  can  be  firmly  fixed  in 
position.  The  division  plate  d  is  an  important  factor  and 
must  be  set  accurately  to  obtain  the  best  results. 

12.  Stripping  Rail. — As  soon  as  the  cotton  is  released 
from  the  feed-rolls  b,  b,,  Fig.  5,  it  is  acted  on  by  the  beater 
and  then  by  an  air-current  that  is  generated  by  the  fan  d. 


Fig. 13 

This  fan  exhausts  the  air  in  the  passage  between  the  beater  «■ 
and  the  cages  e,  e^,  and  thus  the  air  rushes  in  from  the  room 
through  the  opening  shown  in  the  side  of  the  picker,  passes 
through  the  grid  bars  r,  through  the  passage  to  the  cages, 
out  at  the  ends  of  the  cages,  and  down  a  flue  to  the  dust 
room.  By  this  means  the  cotton  is  carried  through  the 
passage  over  the  cleaning  bars  /  to  the  cages  e,  <?,.  The  top 
of  the  passage  projects  to  some  extent  toward  the  beater 
and  supports  what  is  known  as  the  stripping  rail,  one  type 
of  which  is  shown  in  Figs.  12  and  13  at  a.  It  is  the  function 
of  this  rail  to  remove  any  cotton  that  has  adhered  to  the 
beater  instead  of  being  carried  to  the  cages.     In  some  cases 


14  PICKERS  §17 

the  stripping  rail  cannot  be  moved,  while  in  other  cases  it  is 
capable  of  being  adjusted.  The  type  of  stripping  rail  shown 
in  Fig.  12  is  an  adjustable  one,  as  the  rail  a  is  entirely 
separate  from  its  support  b.  The  adjustment  for  the  strip- 
ping rail  is  shown  in  Fig.  13.  Although  the  stripping  rail  is 
described  in  connection  with  a  porcupine  beater,  it  is  gener- 
ally and  more  appropriately  used  in  connection  with  two-  or 
three-blade  beaters. 

13.  Inclined  Cleaning  Bars. — The  bottom  of  the 
passage  between  the  beater  and  the  cages  is  formed  by  the 
series  of  cleaning  bars  /,  Fig.  5,  known  as  the  inclined 
cleaning,  or  grate,  bars.  These  bars  are  so  placed  that 
any  foreign  matter  that  is  too  heavy  to  be  carried  along  by 
the  air-current  will  drop  of  its  own  weight  through  them  and 
thus  be  prevented  from  reentering  the  cotton.  Every  fifth 
bar  is  a  deep  one,  in  order  to  prevent  the  dirt  that  drops 
between  the  bars  at  a  point  nearest  the  cages  from  sliding 
down  the  incline.  If  this  were  not  provided  for,  considerable 
dirt  would  accumulate  at  the  lowest  point  of  the  incline  and 
make  it  possible  for  a  portion,  at  least,  to  reenter  the  cotton, 
as  underneath  these  bars  is  a  door.^,  Fig.  5,  that  is  held  in 
place  by  a  weight  on  a  lever,  a  portion  of  which  is  shown 
at  ci\.  This  door  can  be  lowered,  in  order  to  remove  the 
dirt  that  has  accumulated,  but  the  picker  should  be  stopped 
when  this  is  done  so  that  the  air-current  will  not  enter  the 
passage  to  the  cages  through  the  grate  bars  and  thus  take 
some  of  the  dirt  with  it  into  the  cotton  that  is  being  drawn 
to  the  cages. 

The  cages  e,e^.  Fig.  5,  on  which  the  cotton  is  delivered 
from  this  passage,  are  similar  in  construction  to  those  that 
have  been  described,  and  are  usually  about  22  inches  in 
diameter;  in  some  cases,  the  top  one  is  larger  than  the 
bottom   one,  or  vice   versa. 

14.  At  a  point  ^..  Fig.  5,  is  a  block  that  prevents  air  or 
cotton  from  being  drawn  to  the  surface  of  the  upper  cage 
beyond  this  point;  the  framework  ^^  accomplishes  the  same 
object  for  the  bottom  cage.     These  cages  are  also  usually 


§17 


PICKERS 


15 


protected  at  the  ends  and  other  places  so  that  the  cotton 
cannot  be  drawn  to  any  point  but  that  nearest  the  passajje. 
The  cages  aid  in  the  cleaning  of  the  cotton,  since,  as  it  is 
brought  with  some  force  against  them,  dust  and  foreign 
matter  small  enough  to  go  through  will  be  carried  to  the 
dust  room.     In  addition   to   this,   the   cages,   by  revolving, 


Fig.  14 

form  the  cotton  into  a  layer,  which  is  taken  by  the  stripping 
rolls  h  and  delivered  on  the  stripping  plate  //,. 

The  cotton  next  passes  over  this  stripping  plate  and  is 
gripped  by  the  feed-rolls  j;  in  passing  from  these  to  the 
stripping  rolls  p,  it  is  treated  in  the  same  manner  as  during 
its  passage  from  the  feed-rolls  b,  b,  to  the  stripping  rolls  //. 


16  PICKERS  §17 

In  this  section  of  the  picker,  however,  there  is  a  different 
type  of  beater,  and  the  air-current  is  generated  by  the  fan  k, 
the  air  passing  in  through  the  grid  bars  /,  and  carrying  the 
cotton  over  the  cleaning  bars  m  on  to  the  cages  w,?/,,  from 
which  it  is  stripped  by  rolls  p  and  delivered  on  to  the  plate  r. 
The  cotton  passes  from  the  plate  ;-,  between  the  rolls  ^  and  5,. 
then  between  s,  and  s^,  between  s.  and  s^,  and  under  the 
compression  roll  s^.  The  object  of  the  last  roll  is  to  further 
condense  the  cotton.  It  has  no  bearings,  being  held  in 
position  by  the  rolls  ^3,  t  and  receiving  motion  by  frictional 
contact  with  them;  this  roll  is  also  shown  at  ^4,  Fig.  14. 
The  rolls  s,s^,s.,S:,  are  known  as  smooth  calendei*  rolls, 
and  their  purpose  is  to  condense  the  layer  of  cotton.  Their 
bearings  are  held  in  vertical  slides,  so  that  they  are  capable 
of  being  separated  slightly  when  an  excessive  amount  of 
cotton  passes  through.  If  they  were  held  in  fixed  bearings, 
considerable  strain  would  be  brought  on  them  at  such  a 
time.  Two  of  these  rolls  that  are  not  adjacent  are  con- 
structed with  collars,  so  that  the  four  rolls  fit  into  each  other, 
as  shown  in  s,s.,,s.,S:,,  Fig.  14.  In  addition  to  their  own 
weight,  downward  pressure  is  exerted  at  each  end  by  a 
weighted  lever  attached  to  two  rods,  one  suspended  from 
each  side  of  a  saddle  resting  on  the  bearings  of  the 
upper    roll. 

15.  Lap  Roll. — Between  and  resting  on  the  fluted  calen- 
der rolls  /,  ty  is  the  lap  roll  i\  which  is  held  in  position  as 
shown  in  Fig.  5.  This  roll  is  revolved  by  frictional  contact 
with  t  and  /,,  and  serves  to  roll  the  cotton  into  a  cylindrical 
form  known  as  a  lap.  When  the  lap  has  reached  the  desired 
size,  the  lap  roll  is  withdrawn  and  the  lap  removed  from  the 
machine.  The  lap  roll,  which  is  also  shown  in  Fig.  14  at  v, 
is  built  in  two  styles;  sometimes  it  is  solid,  and  when  the  lap 
is  used  at  a  succeeding  process  a  rod  is  pushed  through  the 
opening  thus  made,  while  in  other  cases  it  is  hollow,  so  that 
a  rod  having  a  large,  flat  head  may  be  inserted  while  the  lap 
is  still  on  the  lap  roll  and  thus  be  in  position  when  the  roll  is 
withdrawn  from  the  lap. 


§17 


PICKERS 


17 


16.  Lap  Rack.— In  order  to  build  a  solid  lap,  a  device 
known  as  a  lap  rack  is  employed,  the  construction  of  which 
is  shown  in  Fig.  15  (a)  and  {d),  Fig.  15  (a)  being  a  side 


Fir,.  15 


elevation  and  Fig.  15  (d)  a  plan  view,  partly  in  section.  At 
each  end  of  the  lap  roll  v  is  the  lap  rack  a,  the  upper  part  of 
which  has  a  bearing  on  the  lap  roll;  the  lower  part  has  teeth 
that  engage  with  a  gear  /?  on  the  shaft  r.    Fixed  to  the  shaft  c 


1^181 


Caffe 


Bottom  Stripping  Roll 


Top 


S3 


i'Oia 


IS  Dia. 


[| 


37 


33-  j  ::i         Bottom  Feed  Roll  2  "Dia. 


y 


Beater  1450  R.PM. 


18t 


LlJ Bottom  Stripping  Roll 


Top 


t^ 


Top  Calender  Roll  5'/^"  Dia. 


2nd 


3rd 


90  HS 


17. 


'^ 


Bottom  „ 


-39 
.23 


1=^30 


Cross  Sfiafl 


2lMs 

27 


^        [- 


Back  Fluted  CalenderRollOiyia. 


Front 


^2* 
22 
'24 


§17  PICKERS  19 

is  a  gear  d  that  meshes  with  a  gear  ^  on  a  sleeve  on  the 
stud  n.  This  sleeve  also  carries  another  gear  /  that  meshes 
with  the  gear  g  loose  on  the  shaft  c  and  compounded  with 
the  friction  pulley  in.  Pressing  against  this  friction  pulley 
is  a  strip  of  leather,  which  is  held  against  it  with  considera- 
ble pressure  by  means  of  the  weight  p  on  the  lever  /  ful- 
crumed  on  ;/. 

As  the  lap  increases  in  size  on  the  roll  v,  it  must  overcome 
the  total  resistance  of  the  friction  pulley  and  the  friction  of 
the  gearing;  by  this  means  it  is  made  comparatively  firm. 
When  it  is  necessary  to  remove  the  lap,  the  friction  is 
released  by  depressing  the  end  of  the  lever  /,  opposite  to 
the  weight  p,  with  the  foot.  The  cotton  then  has  a  tendency 
to  expand,  which  will  lift  the  racks  a,  to  some  extent,  but 
they  are  further  raised  by  means  of  a  hand  wheel,  shown 
at  >',  Figs.  2  and  4,  and  which  is  on  the  shaft  c.  Fig.  15  {a). 

17.  Gearing. — Above  the  machine  in  Fig.  5  is  shown  a 
framework  carrying  a  countershaft  x.  The  speed  of  the 
beater  is  so  high  that  it  cannot  be  driven  directly  from  the 
main  shaft  of  the  room  without  using  very  large  pulleys;  for 
this  reason,  the  countershaft  is  used  and  the  beater  driven 
from  it  as  shown  in  Fig.  5.  In  some  cases  instead  of  being 
on  the  machine  the  countershaft  is  attached  to  the  ceiling. 

A  plan  of  gearing  for  a  picker  in  single  section  having  a 
cage  section  is  shown  in  Fig.  16.  On  one  end  of  the  beater 
shaft  a  are  two  pulleys  «,,  a.\  a^  drives  the  fan  that  pro- 
duces the  air-current  for  the  cages  nearest  the  lap  head, 
while  a^  drives  the  fan  that  produces  the  air-current  neces- 
sary to  draw  the  cotton  from  the  trunking  to  the  cage  section. 
These  pulleys  are  6  inches  in  diameter  and  drive  pulleys  on 
the  fan  shaft  8  inches  in  diameter;  therefore,  when  the  beater 
shaft  a  is  making  1,450  revolutions  per  minute,  the  speed  of 

each  fan  is  — ^-^ — — —  =  1,087.5  revolutions  per  minute. 
8 

On  the  other  end  of  the  beater  shaft  is  a  4-inch  feed- 
pulley  a.,  driving  an  18-inch  pulley  compounded  with  a 
15-tooth    gear,    which,    through    two    gears    connected,    or 


20  PICKERS  §  17 

compounded,  by  a  clutch  arrangement,  drives  a  cross-shaft  b, 
from  which  the  fluted  calender  rolls  receive  motion.  At  the 
other  end  of  the  cross-shaft  from  the  12-tooth  gear  driving 
the  fluted  calender  rolls  is  a  gear  of  14  teeth,  driving  a  gear 
of  50  teeth,  which  is  compounded  with  a  gear  of  27  teeth. 

The  method  by  which  the  calender  rolls,  stripping  rolls, 
and  top  cage  are  driven  from  this  gear  of  27  teeth  may  be 
readily  traced.  The  bottom  cage  is  driven  from  the  top 
cage.  The  14-tooth  gear  on  the  cross-shaft  b  drives  a 
30-tooth  gear  on  the  end  of  another  cross-shaft  c  through 
the  50-tooth  gear.  The  shaft  c,  by  means  of  bevel  gears, 
drives  a  shaft  extending  along  the  side  of  the  picker.  The 
feed-rolls  receive  motion  from  this  shaft,  and  the  stripping 
rolls,  together  with  the  cages  of  the  first  cage  section,  are 
driven  from  the  bottom  feed-roll. 

18.  The  cross-shaft  /'  that  carries  the  gear  of  14  teeth  is 
driven  through  the  18-inch  pulley  by  a  35-tooth  gear,  a  clutch 
gear,  and  a  17-tooth  gear  meshing  with  one  of  90  teeth  on 
the  cross-shaft.  When  the  clutch  is  disconnected,  the  lap 
head  and  the  feed-rolls  will  stop,  but  the  beater  and  fans  will 
continue  to  run.  When  it  is  desired  to  remove  a  lap,  this 
clutch  is  disconnected. 

The  reason  for  this  construction  is  that  the  beater  and 
fans,  owing  to  their  high  speed,  could  not  be  stopped  imme- 
diately when  it  was  desired  to  remove  a  lap  without  putting 
an  excessive  strain  on  the  beater;  neither  would  it  be  advis- 
able to  start  the  beater  and  fans  from  a  standstill  each  time 
the  feed  was  started,  since  too  much  time  would  be  required 
for  these  parts  to  acquire  their  maximum  speed.  By  this 
construction,  however,  the  cotton  may  be  stopped  or  started 
through  the  picker  almost  instantly. 

19.  Draft  of  a  Breaker  Picker. — The  draft  of  a 
breaker  picker  is  usually  a  little  less  than  2.  and  is  figured 
from  the  fluted  calender  rolls  to  the  feed-rolls.  The  draft 
of  the  picker  shown  in  Fig.  16  is 

9  X  24  X  12  X  30  X  24  X  28  X  33  ^  j  g^r, 
24  X  53  X  14  X  24  X  28  X  37  X  2 


§17  PICKERS  21 

20.  Floor  Space  of  a  Breaker. — The  floor  space  of  a 
breaker  varies  according  to  the  style  and  make  of  the  machine. 
One  type  of  a  single-beater  breaker  with  a  cage  section  occu- 
pies a  floor  space  of  13  feet  9  inches  by  6  feet  8^  inches, 
allowing  for  trunk  connections.  A  double-beater  machine, 
other  particulars   as   above,  occupies   19  feet  10  inches  by 


Fig.  17 


6  feet  82  inches.  Where  a  condenser  and  gauge  box  are  used 
instead  of  a  cage  section,  from  7  to  9  inches  may  be  deducted 
from  the  length  given  above.  These  measurements  are  for 
pickers  that  make  laps  40  inches  wide. 

When   in   single    section,   breaker    pickers    require    about 
4i  horsepower;  when  in  double  section,  about  7  horsepower. 


§17 


PICKERS 


23 


The  production  depends  on  the  speed,  width  of  lap,  and 
weight  of  lap  pei"  yard.  A  common  production  is  about  500 
pounds  per  hour,  or  25,000  pounds  for  a  week  of  50  hours 
actual  running  time,  as  about  8  hours  is  allowed  for 
stoppages. 


INTERMEDIATE  AND  FINISHER  PICKERS 

21.  Intermediate  and  finisher  pickers  are  prac- 
tically alike  in  construction  and  differ  very  little  from  a 
breaker  picker  in  single  section.  Their  objects  are  the  same 
as  those  of  the  breaker  picker;  the  lap  that  they  produce, 
however,  is  of  a  more  uniform  weight  per  yard. 

Fig.  17  shows  a  perspective  view  of  a  finisher  picker,  while 
Fig.  18  shows  a  section  through  the  same  machine.     Four 


Fig. 19 

laps  taken  from  the  previous  picker  are  placed  on  the  apron  a, 
and  thus  the  advantage  gained  by  doubling  is  secured. 

22.  Fig.  19  shows  how  the  laps  pass  under  each  other 
on  the  apron  that  conducts  them  to  the  feed-rolls.  Rods 
passing  through  the  centers  of  these  laps  and  being  in  contact 
with  the  brackets  a^,  a„.,  a^,  a^,  Fig.  18,  hold  the  laps  in  position. 

The  laps,  shown  in  Fig.  19,  vary  in  diameter.  This  is 
necessary  in  order  to  keep  four  layers  of  cotton  supplied  to 
the  feed-rolls  at  all  times.  If  all  the  laps  were  of  the  same 
diameter,  they  would  run  out  at  the  same  time,  and  thus 
there  would  be  a  liability  of  the  cotton  running  through 
the  machine  before  all  the  new  laps  were  supplied,  as  well 
as  a  tendency  to  irregularity  through  four  piecings  coming 
near  together. 


24 


PICKERS 


17 


§17 


PICKERS 


25 


EVENER    MOTIONS 

23.  After  it  is  delivered  by  the  feed-rolls,  the  cotton  is 
treated  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  breaker  picker,  but  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  fed  into  the  intermediate  and  the 
finisher  pickers  is  somewhat  different  from  that  in  a  breaker 
picker,  as  indicated  by  the  curved  section  plate  d  above  the 
roll  r,  Fig.  18.  This  section  plate  is  a  portion  of  a  motion 
known  as  the  evener 
motion,  the  object 
of  which  is  to  regu- 
late the  speed  of  the 
feed-roll  in  accord- 
ance with  the  weight 
of  cotton  fed  so  that 
a  uniform  weight  will 
be  presented  to  the 
beater. 

Fig.  20  is  a  com- 
plete view  of  all  the 
attachments  of  an 
evener,  while  Figs.  21 
and  22  are  portions 
of  side  elevations. 
A  shaft  b.  Fig.  20, 
carries  rolls  b^,  which  give  motion  to  and  support  the  feed- 
apron  a.  Fig.  18,  while  c,  Fig.  20,  is  a  feed-roll,  or  evener 
roll,  extending  across  the  machine. 


Fig.  21 


24.  Scale  Box. — Fig.  20  shows  eight  sectional  plates  d, 
each  of  which  is  about  5  inches  in  width,  and  carries  a  pro- 
jection d^  that  passes  inside  a  box  known  as  the  scale  box  e. 
The  plates  are  connected  in  pairs  by  four  short  saddles  ^,. 
Each  pair  of  these  saddles  e^  is,  in  turn,  connected  by  a  larger 
saddle  e.,,  while  the  centers  of  e..  are  connected  by  a  still 
larger  saddle  ^^. 

Extending  from  the  center  of  the  saddle  e^  is  a  pin  <"., 
which  projects  out  of  the  scale  box  and  forms  a  bearing  for 


26 


PICKERS 


§17 


a  lever  /  at  A.  The  fulcrum  of  the  lever  is  at  /^  and  is 
formed  by  a  bracket  fastened  to  the  scale  box.  At  the 
other  end  of  the  lever,  fastened  at  /a,  is  a  vertical  rod  ^ 
that  is  connected  to  a  short  shaft  ,^i  at  the  side  of  the 
picker.  At  the  opposite  end  of  this  shaft  is  fastened  a 
segment  //,  the  teeth  of  which  engage  with  a  gear  /i^.     This 


Fig.  22 

gear  is  on  a  sleeve  with  a  gear  /i^,  the  sleeve  being  sup- 
ported by  a  stud  that  projects  from  a  bracket  bolted  to  the 
framework  under  the  apron.  Supported  from  this  same 
part  of  the  machine  are  bearings  /, /,  that  hold  a  rack  k  in 
position.  The  teeth  of  this  rack  engage  with  the  teeth  of 
the  gear  /i^. 


§17  PICKERS  27 

25.  Connected  to  the  rack  k  is  a  belt  guide  k,  that 
controls  the  position  of  the  belt  on  the  cones  and  thus  regu- 
lates the  speed  of  the  driven  cone.  A  rod  /,  that  extends 
downwards  from  the  bearing  j\  and  then  horizontally  through 
a  projection  on  the  belt  guide  serves  to  steady  the  guide. 

26.  Feed-Roll. — The  manner  in  which  the  feed-roll  is 
driven  through  the  cones  may  be  seen  by  reference  to 
Figs.  21  and  22  in  connection  with  Fig.  20.  On  the  beater 
shaft  m  is  a  pulley  w,  driving  a  pulley  w^  on  a  shaft  w  that 
extends  across  the  picker.  The  lower-cone  shaft  is  driven 
from  the  shaft  7i  by  the  gears  w,,  w„  while  motion  is  imparted 
to  the  top-cone  shaft  by  a  belt  that  passes  around  both  cones. 

On  one  end  of  the  top-cone  shaft  is  a  spiral  gear/,  Figs.  20 
and  22,  that  drives  a  spiral  gear  p^  on  a  short  shaft  g.  At  the 
other  end  of  this  shaft  is  a  double  worm  r  that  drives  a 
worm-gear  r,  of  78  teeth.  Compounded  with  the  gear  r,  is  a 
gear  r^,  which  is  of  extra  width  so  that  it  drives  a  gear  7\  on 
the  feed-roll  and  also  a  gear  )\  on  the  apron  shaft  h. 

27.  Opei'ation. — The  manner  in  which  this  evener  regu- 
lates the  speed  of  the  feed-roll  in  accordance  with  the  weight 
of  cotton  fed  is  as  follows:  The  sectional  plates  d,  Fig.  20, 
are  pressed  dow^n  on  the  roll  c  by  the  weight  /.,  shown  on  the 
lever  /,  through  the  connection  made  by  e^  and  the  saddles. 
The  distance  that  these  plates  are  raised  from  the  roll  c  is 
governed  by  the  amount  of  cotton  that  passes  between  them 
and  the  roll;  and,  by  following  the  connections,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  distance  these  plates  are  raised  will  govern  the 
position  of  the  belt  on  the  cones,  and,  consequently,  the 
speed  of  the  roll  c  that  feeds  the  cotton. 

When  the  proper  weight  of  cotton  is  being  fed  uniformly 
throughout  the  length  of  the  feed-roll  r,  the  plates  are  raised 
the  same  distance  from  the  roll  c  and  the  belt  should  be 
exactly  in  the  center  of  the  cones.  If,  however,  a  portion  of 
cotton  1  inch  thicker  than  the  average  thickness  comes  under 
the  section  plate  at  the  extreme  left,  this  section  plate  will 
be  raised  1  inch  from  its  normal  position.  The  result  of  this 
will  be  that  the  end  of  the  lever  Ci  resting  on  this  plate  will 


28 


PICKERS 


§17 


be  raised  1  inch,  which  in  turn  will  raise  the  end  of  the  lever  e. 
connected  to  e^  \  inch.  The  end  of  the  lever  e^  that  is 
connected  to  this  lever  e^  will  therefore  be  raised  \  inch, 
which,  by  causing  the  pin  e^  to  be  raised  &  inch,  will  result  in 
the  lever  /  being  raised  h  inch  at  the  point  /,. 

As  the  lever  /  cannot  rise  at  A,  its   other  end  must  rise 
and,  through  the  rod  g,  turn  the  shaft  g^.     The  segment  h 


Fig. 23 

wall  therefore  be  moved,  and  through  the  gears  //,,  lu  and 
the  rack  k,  the  belt  will  be  guided  on  to  the  smaller  part  of 
the  lower,  or  driving,  cone,  thus  decreasing  the  speed  of  the 
feed-roll  and  reducing  the  weight  of  cotton  fed.  As  soon  as 
this  heavier  portion  of  cotton  has  passed  and  the  correct 
weight  is  fed,  the  parts  will  be  brought  to  their  normal 
positions  by  means  of  the  weight  on  the  lever  /. 


SI- 


PICKERS 


29 


In  this  illustration,  an  extreme  case  has  been  taken,  as  it 
is  seldom  that  an  extra  portion  of  cotton  1  inch  thicker  than 
the  average  comes  under  one  of  the  section  plates;  but  the 
belt  would  be  moved  the  same  distance  if  a  portion  of  cotton 
H  inch  thicker  than  the  average  should  come  under  all  the 
section  plates.     If  four  of  the  plates  are  raised  i  inch  from 


Fig.  24 

their  normal  position,  it  will  have  the  same  effect  as  raising 
each  plate  i  inch.  It  is  therefore  obvious  that  the  arrange- 
ment is  designed  to  insure  an  average  weight  of  cotton  being 
fed  regardless  of  the  number  of  plates  that  are  affected. 

28.     Another  type  of  evener  is  shown  in  Figs.  28  and  24. 
Extending  across  the  machine  between  the  apron  roll  and 


§17  PICKERS  31 

the  feed-rolls  is  a  plate  a,  Fig.  23,  that  has  a  sharp  edge  on 
the  top.  Bearing  on  this  are  eight  sectional  plates  a.  that 
are  in  a  position  to  be  affected  by  the  cotton  just  before  it 
passes  to  the  feed-rolls  b,  /$>,.  The  lower  feed-roll  is  smaller 
than  the  upper  one,  and  thus  the  plates  are  allowed  to  lie 
under  the  upper  one  and  so  come  very  close  to  the  bite  of 
the  rolls.  Arms  a^  extend  from  these  plates  under  the  feed, 
or  lap,  apron,  as  shown  in  Figs.  23  and  24,  and  are  connected 
in  pairs  by  means  of  bridges  c,  c,  which,  in  turn,  are  connected 
to  a  large  bridge  c,  by  means  of  two  other  bridges  <:,,<:,. 
Fulcrumed  at  ^  is  a  lever  d^  that  contains  a  screw  d^  having  a 
bearing  on  the  large  bridge  c^.  Extending  from  this  lever  d^ 
is  a  rod  e  that  connects  with  shaft  /  having  bearings  at  A 
and  A.  At  the  end  of  the  shaft  /  nearest  the  bearing  f,  is 
attached  a  segment  ^,  the  teeth  of  which  engage  with  a 
rack  gy  that  governs  the  position  of  the  belt  h^  on  the 
cones  //,//,. 

The  bottom  cone  h  is  driven  by  gearing  from  the  side 
shaft  j,  which  receives  motion  from  the  lap  head.  The  top 
cone  hi,  driven  by  the  bottom  cone,  drives  the  feed-rolls  by 
means  of  a  worm-drive;  consequently,  any  movement  of  the 
belt  on  the  cones  will  alter  the  speed  of  the  feed-rolls  and 
thus  affect  the  weight  of  the  cotton  fed. 

When  the  proper  weight  of  cotton  is  being  fed,  the  plates 
are  all  depressed  the  same  distance;  but,  if  a  portion  of 
cotton  heavier  than  the  average  weight  passes  over  a  plate, 
this  plate  will  be  further  depressed.  As  the  plate  is  ful- 
crumed on  a,  this  will  cause  the  outer  end  of  the  arm  a^  to 
rise,  which  will  result  in  the  lever  d^  being  raised  through 
the  connections  made  by  the  bridges  c,c-,,c^.  The  raising  of 
the  lever  d^  will  impart  motion  to  the  shaft  /  by  means  of  the 
connecting-rod  e,  which  will  cause  the  segment  g  to  move 
the  rack  g^  in  such  a  manner  that  the  belt  h.  will  be  moved 
to  the  small  end  of  the  driving  cone.  When  the  heavy 
portion  of  cotton  has  passed,  the  plate  will  be  returned  to 
its  normal  position  by  the  weight  of  the  arm  a,,  together 
with  the  weight  of  the  bridges,  lever,  and  connecting-rod. 
If  less  than  the  average  weight  of  cotton  is  presented  to  the 


32  PICKERS  §17 

plates,  the  arm  a.,  and  the  lever  ^/,,  together  with  the  bridges, 
will  fall,  because  of  their  weight,  and  the  result  will  be  that 
the  belt  will  be  moved  to  the  larger  end  of  the  driving  cone, 
thus  increasing  the  speed  of  the  feed-rolls. 

29.  A  picker  with  another  type  of  evener  motion  attached 
is  shown  in  Fig.  25.  The  scale  box  and  its  connections  with 
the  segment  resemble  those  in  Fig.  20.  The  rolls  of  this 
evener,  however,  instead  of  being  driven  merely  through 
cones,  are  driven  by  a  combination  of  two  cones,  a  drum, 
and  a  roll. 

The  manner  in  which  this  method  of  driving  is  arranged 
can  be  readily  traced.  A  side  shaft  /,  Fig.  25,  that  carries 
a  drum  k  at  one  end  receives  motion  from  the  lap  head. 
A  belt  /  from  the  drum  k  passes  first  over  a  roll  ni  and  then 
around  the  cones  «,,«.  The  feed-rolls  receive  their  motion 
through  a  worm-drive  from  the  top  cone  n. 

It  is  possible  to  attach  eveners  to  automatic  feeders, 
although  this  is  not  commonly  done,  since  the  effect  of  the 
evener  on  the  uniform  weight  of  cotton  is  destroyed  to  some 
extent  during  its  passage  from  the  feeder  to  the  breaker 
picker,  especially  if  an  opener  is  used  and  the  cotton  is  con- 
veyed from  it  to  the  breaker  picker  by  trunking. 


MEASURING    MOTION 

30.  The  measuring  motion  is  used  to  a  greater  extent 
on  intermediate  and  finisher  pickers  than  on  breaker  pickers. 
Its  object  is,  when  a  definite  length  has  been  wound  on  the 
lap  roll,  automatically  to  stop  the  feed-rolls,  the  smooth 
calender  rolls,  and  in  some  cases  the  fluted  calender  rolls, 
while  the  beater  shaft  and  fans  continue  to  revolve. 

A  view  of  a  measuring  motion,  the  value  of  the  gearing  of 
which  is  given  later  in  this  Section,  under  Gearing,  is  shown 
in  Fig.  26;  a  represents  the  end  of  the  bottom  calender  roll, 
carrying  a  worm  b,  which  through  a  worm-gear  c  drives  a 
shaft  <:,  carrying  a  bevel  gear  d,  which  drives  a  bevel  gear  e. 
The  gear  e,  together  with  a  dog  /,  is  loose  on  a  stud  g  and 
carries  a  projection  e^,  the  dog  /  also  carrying  a  projection  /,. 


§17 


PICKERS 


33 


The  dog,  if  allowed  to  do  so,  would  fall  because  of  its  own 
weight  so  that  its  point  would  be  down,  but  as  the  gear  e 
receives  motion  from  the  bottom  calender  roll,  the  projec- 
tion e^  on  the  gear  e  comes  in  contact  with  the  projection  /, 
on  the  dog  /  and  thus  continually  forces  the  dog  around 
ahead  of  it;  consequently,  when  the  projection  e^  is  at  its 
highest  position,  the  parts  mentioned  occupy  the  position 
shown  in  Fig.  26. 

As   the   gear  e  continues   to   revolve,    the   dog   /  will  be 
brought  in  contact  wath   a  projection   on  a  lever  h  that  is 


Fig.  26 

connected  to  the  starting  levei  h^  fulcrumed  at  h._.  Con- 
nected to  //i  is  a  rod  j.  Figs.  22  and  26,  that  runs  along  the 
side  of  the  picker  and  connects  with  a  double  worm  r,  Fig.  22. 
A  bracket  k,  Fig.  26,  is  also  attached  to  the  rod  h^,  while 
attached  to  this  bracket  is  a  rod  k^  that  connects  with  the 
clutch  /,  Fig.  27,  through  which  the  lap  head  is  driven. 

31.  When  the  picker  is  running,  the  cut-out,  shown  in 
dotted  lines,  in  the  lever  h.  Fig.  26,  has  a  bearing  on  a  cast- 
ing, and  thus  the  starting  lever  /^,  is  held  in  such  a  position 
that  the  worm  r,  Fig.  22,  is  in  contact  with  the  worm-gear  r,, 


34  PICKERS  §  17 

the  clutch  /,  Fig.  27,  being  closed.  When,  however,  the 
gear  c.  Fig.  26,  has  made  one  revolution  and  has  brought  the 
dog  /  into  contact  with  the  lever  h,  any  further  movement 
causes  the  dog  /  to  force  the  cut-out  on  //  from  its  bearing. 
This  causes  the  starting  lever  h^  to  drop,  disconnecting  the 
clutch  /;  the  worm  ;'  is  also  thrown  out  of  gear,  causing  the 
calender  rolls  and  the  feed-rolls  to  stop. 

In  some  cases,  the  gearing  is  so  arranged  that  only  the 
smooth  calender  rolls  and  the  feed-rolls  stop,  while  the  fluted 
calender  rolls  continue  to  run,  thereby  resulting  in  the  lap 
of  cotton  being  broken  away  from  the  sheet  of  cotton 
held  by  the  rolls  that  have  been  stopped.  In  other  cases 
the  fluted  calender  rolls  stop  and  the  lap  is  broken  from 
the  cotton  in  the  machine  by  giving  it  a  partial  revolution 
with  the  hands. 

After  the  lap  has  been  thus  separated,  the  racks  described 
in  connection  with  Fig.  15  are  raised,  the  roll  v  withdrawn, 
and  the  lap  is  removed  from  the  machine.  The  starting 
lever  //,,  Fig.  26,  is  then  raised  until  the  cut-out  rests  on  the 
casting,  thereby  throwing  the  clutch  /,  Fig.  27,  and  the 
worm  r.  Fig.  22,  into  gear,  and  starting  the  cotton  through 
the  machine.  The  lap  roll  is  then  placed  in  position  and  the 
layer  of  cotton  started  around  it  by  hand,  after  which  the 
foot  is  placed  on  the  lever  /,  Fig.  15,  allowing  the  racks  to 
descend  by  their  own  weight  and  hold  the  lap  roll  in  posi- 
tion. This  operal;ion  is  repeated  each  time  the  gear  ^  makes 
one  revolution  and  releases  the  lever  //,  Fig.  26. 


ADJUSTMENTS 

32,  The  distance  between  the  blade  of  the  beater  and 
the  feed-rolls  when  in  closest  proximity  is  an  important 
point  in  a  picker.  If  this  distance  is  too  great,  the  fringe  of 
cotton  will  not  receive  the  full  benefit  of  the  beating  process, 
and  thus  the  impurities  will  not  be  properly  removed  or  the 
cotton  separated  into  sufficiently  fine  pieces.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  the  beater  blade  is  set  too  close,  the  fibers  of  the 
cotton  will  be  injured. 


§17  PICKERS  35 

An  adjustment  is  therefore  provided  for  moving  the  feed- 
rolls  nearer  to,  or  farther  from,  the  beater.  The  reason  for 
moving  the  feed-rolls  instead  of  the  beater  is  that,  as  the  feed- 
rolls  revolve  much  more  slowly  than  the  beater,  they  would 
not  be  injured  as  much  if,  after  changing  their  position, 
their  bearings  were  not  exactly  in  line.  The  distance 
between  the  blade  of  the  beater  and  the  feed-rolls  is  depend- 
ent principally  on  the  length  of  the  staple  being  run,  the 
diameter  of  the  feed-rolls,  and  the  thickness  of  the  cotton 
being  delivered  to  the  beater. 

The  longer  the  staple,  the  smaller  the  diameter  of  the 
feed-rolls,  and  the  thicker  the  cotton  being  delivered,  the  far- 
ther the  feed-rolls  should  be  set  from  the  beater.  With 
3-inch  feed-rolls,  and  using  1-inch  American  cotton,  the  dis- 
tance between  the  blade  of  the  beater  and  the  feed-rolls 
should  be  from  ttb   to  t^  inch. 

33.     Evener  Adjusting  Screw. — Near  the  top  of  the 

rod  g,  Fig.  20,  is  shown  an  adjusting  screw ^2.  Sometimes, 
owing  to  atmospheric  changes  and  other  conditions,  the 
weight  of  the  cotton  will  vary;  that  is,  it  may  feed  a  little 
heavier  or  a  little  lighter  one  day  than  another.  This  causes 
the  weight  of  the  lap  per  yard  to  vary  also.  As  the  same 
weight  of  lap  per  yard  is  usually  required  each  day,  an 
adjustment  must  be  provided  by  means  of  which  the  variation 
may  be  reduced  to  a  minimum.  If  the  lap  is  delivered  too 
heavy  or  too  light  per  yard,  a  change,  of  course,  can  be  made 
in  the  draft  change  gear,  but  in  case  the  variation  is  very 
slight,  a  change  of  1  tooth  in  the  draft  gear  will  probably 
cause  too  great  an  alteration.  For  this  reason,  therefore, 
the  adjustment  is  provided  on  the  rod  g  and,  by  turning  the 
screwy,  up  or  down  on  this  rod,  the  belt  may  be  moved  on 
the  cones,  thus  making  a  very  slight  change  in  the  speed  of 
the  feed-rolls.  All  evener  motions  are  provided  with  some- 
what similar  adjustments. 


Draft  dears 

V\  m 


tr^^=Jt=^ 


Beaipr  1450  R.RM. 


S 


Car/c 


czzf 


Top 


Top  CulencIerRoU  5'/2"Dia. 


2  "J/ 


1=       3':^ 


Bottom 


Cross  Shaft 


O'Din.Lap  CalpnderRotl 


C  9" 


cd Bottom  StrippinffRotI 


27 


Fig.  27 


17  PICKERS  37 


GEARING 

34.  The  gearing  of  a  picker  equipped  with  the  evener 
motion  illustrated  in  Fig.  20  is  shown  in  Fig.  27.  The  beater 
shaft  m  is  driven  from  a  countershaft,  as  explained  in  con- 
nection with  the  breaker  picker,  and  carries  the  usual  pulleys 
for  driving  the  fan  and  feed-rolls. 

The  feed-pulley  Wi  drives  a  pulley  i?i^  on  a  shaft  ?/  extend- 
ing across  the  picker.  From  this  shaft,  the  cones  and  the 
feed-rolls,  together  with  the  feed-apron,  are  driven.  As  the 
feed-apron  is  driven  through  the  cones,  its  speed  will  always 
be  in  accordance  with  that  of  the  feed-rolls.  The  lap  head, 
cages,  and  stripping  rolls  are  driven  through  a  side  shaft  p, 
which  receives  its  motion  from  the  shaft  ?i.  The  driving  plan 
of  the  picker  shown  in  Fig.  25  is  given  in  Fig.  28. 

The  measuring  motion  is  provided  with  change  gears, 
by  means  of  which  different  lengths  of  laps  can  be  procured. 
When  finding  the  length  of  lap,  the  number  of  revolutions 
made  by  the  bottom  calender  roll  while  the  knock-off  gear  is 
revolving  once  should  first  be  determined;  this  result  multi- 
plied by  the  circumference  of  the  roll  will  give  the  length  of 
lap.  Referring  to  Fig.  26,  the  bottom  calender  roll  a  is 
7  inches  in  diameter,  b  is  a.  single  worm,  and  the  worm-gear  c 
is  the  change  gear;  the  gear  d  has  21  teeth,  while  the  knock- 
off  gear  e  contains  30  teeth. 

The  length  of  lap  delivered  when  using  a  45-tooth  change 

30  X  45 

gear  is  as  follows: =  64.285  revolutions   of  roll   to 

21  X  1 
one  revolution  of  gear  e.     64.285  X  7  X  3.1416  =  1,413.704 
inches.     1,413.704  inches  ^  36  =  39.269  yards,  length  of  lap. 
This  example  could  also  be  expressed  as  follows: 
30_Xi.3_X  7  X  3.1416  ^  3^  ^e  yards 
21  X  1  X  36 
A  constant  for  the  measuring  motion  may  be  obtained  by 
omitting  the  change  gear  or  considering  it  a  1-tooth  gear. 
This   constant,   multiplied   by  the   number   of   teeth   in   any 
change  gear,  will  give  the  length  of  lap  delivered  when  using 
that  gear,  and  consequently  the  gear  for  producing  a  certain 


38 


PICKERS 


17 


16 


-4'e" 


6S  1 


■  \ 


Apron  Roll 


EvenerRoll 


Feed  Roll  2V8"Dia. 


Beater  1300  R.RM. 


Cage 


Stripping  Roll  \:z^i 


CalenderRoll 


1 


76^  S 


73 


^     =13? 


9"Fluled/CalenderRoll 


m  Draft  Gear 


37 


Fig.  28 


§17  PICKERS  39 

length  may  be  found  by  dividing  the  length  of  lap  required 
by  the  constant.     The  constant  is  obtained  as  follows: 
30x  (1)  X  7  X  3.1416 


21  X  1  X  36 


=  .8726,  constant 


35.      Draft   of  Intermediate  and   Flnislier  Pickers. 

The  draft  change  gears  are  shown  on  both  plans,  Figs.  27 
and  28.  In  the  machine  shown  in  Fig.  27,  there  are  two  change 
gears  Wi,  //,  so  that  if  the  proper  draft  cannot  be  obtained  by 
changing  one  gear,  the  other  may  be  changed.  The  draft  of 
an  intermediate  picker  is  usually  about  4.25  and  that  of  a  fin- 
isher picker  about  4.50,  when  there  are  4  laps  up  at  the  back. 

The  total  draft  of  the  machine  shown  in  Fig.  27,  with  a  gear 
of  55  teeth  on  the  lower-cone  shaft  meshing  with  a  gear  of 
35  teeth,  and  wath  the  belt  in  the  center  of  the  cones,  is 
as   follows: 

9  X  24  X  12  X.17  X  18  X  27  X  55  X  9  X  78  X  24  ^  ^  ^^^  ^^^^^ 
24  X  53  X  96  X  60  X  27  X  35  X  9  X  2  X  12  X  3 

The  total  draft  of  the  machine  shown  in  Fig.  28,  with  a 
20-draft  gear  and  the  belt  in  the  center  of  the  cones,  is  as 
follows: 
9  X  18  X  14  X  14  X  30  X  54  X  3.25  X  85  X  28  X  12 


37  X  73  X  76  X  20  X  40  X  10  X  1  X  20  X  16  X  2i 
draft 


=  4.275, 


CARE   OF   PICKERS 

36.  Regulation  of  Air-Current. — The  air-current  that 
draws  the  cotton  to  the  cages  should  be  regulated  to  draw 
the  cotton  to  them  in  such  proportions  that  the  upper  cage 
w^ill  receive  an  amount  slightly  in  excess  of  that  which  the 
bottom  one  receives,  since,  if  the  stock  is  drawn  to  the  cages 
in  equal  amounts,  the  sheet  delivered  at  the  front  of  the 
picker  will  be  formed  of  two  layers  of  practically  the  same 
thickness,  and  when  run  through  the  next  machine,  will  be 
liable  to  split.  Pickers  are  constructed  with  dampers  in 
the  flue  so  that  the  required  adjustments  may  be  made. 
The  making  of  a  good  lap  is  an  important  point.  It  should 
be   perfectly   cylindrical  when  removed  from    the   machine, 


40  PICKERS  §17 

and  should  feel  as  firm  at  one  point  as  at  another.  It  should 
be  built  so  that  the  layers  will  unroll  easily  at  the  next  proc- 
ess without  sticking-  together.  This  defect,  which  is  known 
as  splitting,  or  licking:,  is  due  to  various  causes;  such  as 
excessive  fan  speed,  improper  division  of  the  air-currents, 
oil  dropping  on  the  cotton,  etc. 

If  the  air-current  is  stronger  on  one  side  than  on  the  other, 
the  side  having  the  weaker  current  is  usually  soft.  The 
velocity  of  the  air-current  is  also  responsible  for  the  amount 
of  waste  removed.  If  the  air-current  is  too  strong,  it  prevents 
good  cotton  from  being  struck  through  the  bars,  but  at  the 
same  time  prevents  all  the  dirt  from  being  removed,  since 
the  current  is  strong  enough  to  carry  it  forwards.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  the  current  is  so  weak  that  the  dirt  drops  readily, 
good  cotton  may  also  drop  with  it,  causing  excessive  waste. 
A  medium  air-current  must  therefore  be  found  that  will  allow 
the  removal  of  the  greatest  amount  of  dirt  with  the  least 
amount  of  cotton.  The  setting  of  the  grid  bars  also  aids  in 
this,  and  the  matter  of  keeping  all  the  parts  clean  cannot  receive 
too  much  attention.  In  some  cases  it  is  found  necessary,  in 
order  to  avoid  an  excessive  amount  of  air  entering  through 
the  grid  bars  and  preventing  the  removal  of  the  dirt,  to 
admit  air  through  the  ends  of  the  beater  cover  or  through  the 
casing  that  extends  over  the  passage  between  the  beater  and 
the  cages. 

The  laps  delivered  should  be  as  near  a  uniform  weight  as 
possible.  Each  lap  from  the  finisher  picker  is  usually 
weighed,  and  a  variation  of  i  pound  in  either  direction  is 
allowed;  that  is,  if  laps  weighing  35  pounds  are  delivered 
when  they  are  the  correct  weight  per  yard,  any  laps  weigh- 
ing between  341  and  352  pounds  are  allowed  to  pass.  Laps 
weighing  outside  this  range  should  be  put  back  and  run  over 
again,  and  if  too  many  of  these  laps  are  uniformly  heavy  or 
light,  the  regulating  screw  on  the  evener  should  be  adjusted. 

37.  Causes  of  Uneven  Tjaps. — When  laps  are  found  to 
be  weighing  unevenly,  the  fault  may  be  at  several  places. 
The  feeder  may  be  feeding  unevenly;  the  evener,  either  on 


§17 


PICKERS 


41 


the  intermediate  or  finisher  lapper,  may  be  out  of  order, 
possibly  through  not  being  cleaned  and  oiled  properly  or 
through  using  a  stiflE  evener  driving  belt.  This  should  be 
perfectly  pliable  and  have  good  piecings.  Cotton  may  also 
remain  in  the  trunks  or  over  the  inclined  cleaning  bars 
because  these  are  not  kept  clean. 

Another  cause  for  uneven  laps  is  often  found  in  the  posi- 
tion of  the  cone  belt  on  the  cones  of  the  evener  motion.  If, 
when  the  proper  amount  of  cotton  is  passing  through  the 
picker,  the  cone  belt  is  running  at  one  end  of  the  cones,  it 
will  not  allow  the  belt  to  be  shifted  far  enough  toward  the 
nearest  end  of  the  cones  to  correct  any  considerable  varia- 
tion requiring  a  movement  of  the  belt  in  that  direction.  The 
different  parts  of  the  evener  motion  should  be  so  adjusted 
that  the  belt  will  run  at  the  center  of  the  cones  when  the 
correct  amount  of  cotton  is  passing  through  the  machine. 
This  will  give  the  cone  belt  one-half  of  the  cones  to  work  on 
for  regulating  either  light  or  heavy  laps. 

Below  is  given  a  table  showing  for  what  numbers  of  yarn 
certain  weights  of  lap  are  generally  used: 


Numbers 

-)f  Yarn 

Weight  of  Lap  per  Yard 
From  Finisher  Picker 

Ounces 

IS 

to 

lOS 

14.0 

IDS 

to 

20s 

13-5 

20S 

to 

30s 

13.0 

30s 

to 

40s 

12.0 

40s 

to 

50S 

II-5 

50s 

to 

60s 

I  i.o 

60s 

to 

70s 

1 1.0 

70s 

to 

80s 

1 1.0 

80s 

to 

90s 

10. 0 

90s 

to 

lOOS 

10. 0 

lOOS 

to 

I20S 

9-5 

I20S 

to 

I5OS 

9.0 

42  PICKERS  §17 

A  good  production  for  an  intermediate  or  finisher  picker 
is  about  12,500  pounds  per  week,  allowing  from  6  to  10  hours 
for  stoppages.  A  finisher  picker  for  making  40-inch  laps 
occupies  a  floor  space  of  about  16  feet  by  6  feet  82  inches 
and  requires  about  4  horsepower  to  drive  it. 

38.  Cleaning  and  Oiling:. — Pickers  should  be  kept 
well  cleaned  and  oiled.  All  oil  holes,  wherever  possible, 
should  be  covered  in  order  to  keep  grit  and  sand  from  the 
bearings.  In  oiling,  care  should  be  taken  not  to  allow  the 
oil  to  get  on  the  inside  of  the  casings  where  the  cotton 
passes.  The  beater,  grid  bars,  inclined  cleaning  bars,  and 
cages  should  be  picked  clean  of  cotton  daily  and  kept  free 
from  dirt  and  oil.  All  air  passages  and  pipes  from  fans 
should  be  kept  clean,  but  the  covers  of  the  doors  of  these  air 
passages  or  pipes  should  not  be  removed  while  the  machine 
is  running. 


COTTON  CARDS 

(PART  1) 


INTRODUCTION 

1.  The  lap  of  cotton  as  it  leaves  the  picker  consists  of 
cotton  fibers  crossed  in  all  directions,  together  with  a  small 
amount  of  foreign  matter,  consisting  more  especially  of 
lighter  impurities  such  as  pieces  of  leaf,  seed,  or  stalk,  and 
thin  membranes  from  the  cotton  boll.  Such  material  is  of 
too  light  a  nature  to  be  removed  by  the  action  of  the  beaters 
or  to  drop  through  between  the  grid  or  inclined  cleaning 
bars  of  the  pickers,  so  that  it  is  carried  forwards  with  the 
cotton  and  into  the  lap.  In  order  to  remove  this  foreign 
matter,  machinery  of  an  entirely  diiTerent  character  from  the 
cleaning  machinery  previously  used  must  be  adopted,  and 
for  this  purpose  the  cotton  card  is  employed,  the  process 
being  known  as  carding:-  .Carding  is  regarded  by  many 
manufacturers  as  one  of  the  most  important  processes  in 
cotton-yarn  preparation.  In  addition  to  cleaning  the  cotton, 
it  is  also  the  first  step  in  the  series  of  attenuating  processes, 
which  gradually  reduce  the  weight  of  cotton  per  unit  of 
length  sufficiently  to  form  a  thread.  The  lap  from  the 
picker  is  comparatively  heavy,  and  must  be  reduced  consid- 
erably in  weight  at  various  machines  in  order  to  give  the 
weight  per  unit  of  length  required  in  the  j^arn.  The  carding 
process  is  the  one  that  follows  the  picking  operations  in  all 
cotton  mills,  whether  coarse  or  fine,  and  whether  making 
carded  or  combed  yarns. 

2.  Objects  of  CardinjT. — The  objects  of  carding  are: 
(1)   The  disentangling  of  the  cotton  fibers,  or  the  separation 

For  notice  of  copyright,  see  page  immediately  following  the  title  page 


2  COTTON  CARDS  §18 

of  the  bunches,  or  tufts,  of  fiber  into  individual  fibers,  and  the 
commencement  of  their  parallelization;  (2)  the  removal  of 
the  smaller  and  lighter  impurities;  (3)  changing  the  forma- 
tion of  cotton  from  a  lap  to  a  sliver,  accompanied  by  the 
reduction  of  the  weight  per  yard  of  the  material.  A  sliver 
is  a  round,  loose  strand  of  cotton  without,  or  almost  without, 
twist,  and  usually  from  40  to  80  grains  per  yard  in  weight. 
It  is  generally  coiled  in  a  can,  and  is  made  at  the  carding, 
drawing,  and  combing  processes. 

3.  Principles  of  Carding. — In  order  to  arrive  at  the 
previously  mentioned  objects,  the  principle  of  combing  the 
fibers  between  sets  of  closely  arranged  wire  teeth  is  adopted; 
one  set  may  be  fixed  and  the  other  moving,  or  each  set  may 
be  moving  in  the  opposite  direction  to  the  other,  or  both 
may  be  moving  in  the  same  direction  but  at  different  speeds. 
In  any  case,  the  sets  of  wire  teeth  are  in  close  proximity  to 
one  another.  The  first  and  second  objects — the  disentan- 
gling of  the  cotton  fibers  and  the  removal  of  the  impuri- 
ties— are  attained  by  this  means,  as  the  fibers  forming  the 
small  tufts  are  drawn  apart  and  the  lighter  impurities 
are  caught  between  the  wires,  where  they  remain  until 
removed  by  special  means.  Use  is  also  made  of  the  cen- 
trifugal force  of  a  cylinder  covered  with  wire  teeth  and 
revolving  at  a  high  speed  in  attaining  the  first  and  second 
objects  of  carding;  the  ends  of  the  fibers  are  thrown  against 
stationary  or  moving  points  of  wire  and  the  fibers  thus 
combed  out,  while  heavier  impurities  such  as  sand,  dirt,  and 
dust  are  thrown  out,  owing  to  the  high  speed  of  the  cylinder. 
Another  method  of  arriving  at  the  second  object  is  that 
of  arranging  knives  or  bars  partly  around  the  revolving 
portions  of  the  card,  to  clean  and  throw  off  the  dirt,  sand, 
and  dust  from  the  fibers  as  they  are  drawn  past  such 
obstructions.  The  third  object  is  attained  by  adopting  the 
principle  of  drafting,  the  attenuation  of  the  material  being 
produced  by  revolving  cylinders  covered  with  wire  teeth, 
instead  of  by  the  usual  method  of  rolls,  which  are  used  in 
this  machine  only  at  the  feed  and  delivery. 


§18  COTTON  CARDS  3 

Carding  is  really  a  combing  or  brushing  action,  the  fibers 
being  operated  on  by  a  series  of  wire  teeth,  which  has  the 
same  effect  as  loosely  holding  a  few  fibers  at  a  time  and 
striking  them  with  a  comb;  the  process,  however,  must  not 
be  confused  with  that  technically  known  as  combing,  which  is 
an  entirely  separate  process  and  used  only  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  fine  yarns.  The  machine  employed  in  carding  is 
usually  spoken  of  as  a  card,  or  sometimes  as  a  cardi?ig 
engine;  this  latter  name,  however,  is  used  more  commonly  in' 
England  than  in  the  United  States. 


CARD  CONSTRUCTION 


THE  REVOLVING-TOP  FLAT  CARD 


PRINCIPAL  PARTS 

4.  The  card  that  is  most  commonly  used  and  now 
almost  universally  adopted  for  new  cotton  mills  is  known  as 
the  i-evolving-top  flat  card,  sometimes  spoken  of  as  the 
revolving  Hat  card,  or  the  English  card.  Views  of  it  are 
shown  in  Figs.  1  and  2,  Fig.  1  showing  one  side  of  the  card, 
with  the  machine  in  condition  for  operation,  while  Fig.  2 
shows  the  other  side  as  it  is  seen  when  stopped  and  without 
any  stock  passing  through.  A  section  through  the  same 
card  from  back  to  front  is  shown  in  Fig.  3.  The  various 
parts  of  the  card  are  lettered  the  same  in  all  three  figures, 
and  reference  letters  should  be  referred  to  on  Fig.  3  espe- 
cially; but  it  is  also  advisable  to  refer  to  Figs.  1  and  2  for 
the  same  parts,  in  order  to  identify  them  and  ascertain  their 
relations  to  one  another.  The  same  letters  are  used  in  other 
figures  throughout  this  Section  in  accordance  with  the  follow- 
ing list.  All  parts  of  a  single  motion  or  section  of  the  card 
are  designated  by  the  same  letter,  which  in  some  instances  is 
followed  by  a  figure,  known  as  the  subscript,  to  distinguish 
the  particular  part  for  which  it  is  used  from  related  parts 
having  the  same  reference  letter. 


COTTON  CARDS 


§18 


IS 


COTTON  CARDS 


MJ 


§18 


COTTON  CARDS 


5. 


The  principal  parts  6f  the  machine  are  as  follows: 


a,  Lap  roll. 

rto,  Lap  that  is  being  carded. 
a«,  vSpare  lap. 
rte,  Lap  plates. 

b,  Feed-plate. 
^,,  Feed-roll. 

^3,  Weights  for  feed-roll. 

c,  Licker. 

r,,  Licker  screen. 

d,  di,  Mote  knives. 

e,  Cylinder. 

c^,  Back  knife  plate. 

^s,  Cylinder  screen. 

Cn,  Lower  front  plate. 

fg,  Door  at  front  of  cylinder. 

f,,,  Front  knife  plate. 

r,j,  Tight  pulley  on  cylinder. 

^,3,  Loose  pulley  on  cylinder. 

/,  Flats. 

g.  Arches  of  card. 

h.  Flexible  bend  on  which  a 


//,,  //s,  //s,  Pulleys  for  support- 
ing flats. 

y,  Flat-stripping  comb. 

k,  Flat-stripping  brush. 

/(",,  Hackle  comb  for  cleaning 
flat  stripping  brush. 

/,  Card  sides. 

/,,  Cross-girts. 

/-,  Doors  in  frame  of  card. 

ni,  Doffer. 

;;z4,  Doffer  bonnet. 

jUa,  Barrow  gear. 

wzjs,  Side  shaft. 

n,  Doffer  comb. 

o,  Trumpet. 

<7,,  Top  calender  roll. 

^2,  Bottom  calender  roll. 

0^,  Can  in  which  sliver  is 
coiled. 

p.  Cover  of  coiler. 

/>i,  Coiler  calender  rolls. 


portion  of  the  flats  rests. 

Figs.  4  and  5  show  a  revolving  flat  card  of  another  style 
of  construction,  but  all  essential  parts  are  the  same  and  are 
lettered  as  in  Figs.  1,  2,  and  3. 

6.  Feed-Roll  and  Feed-Plate. — At  the  back  of  the 
card  in  Fig.  1  is  shown  the  lap  «,,  which  has  a  rod  a^  passed 
through  its  center  and  rests  on  the  lap  roll  a,  shown  in  Fig.  3. 
The  lap  a^  is  the  one  being  carded,  a  spare  lap  «<  being  shown 
above  it  in  Fig.  1,  resting  in  a  s.and  a^,.  The  lap  roll  a  is 
constructed  of  wood  and  is  either  fluted  or  has  a  rough  sur- 
face, sometimes  produced  by  covering  it  with  a  coat  of  paint 
mixed  with  sand,  in  order  to  cause  the  lap  to  unroll  by  friction 
with  the  lap  roll  and  without  any  slippage. 

The  cotton  is  drawn  over  the  feed-plate  b.  Fig.  3,  by  the 
feed-roll  b^,  the  single  layer,  or  sheet,  leaving  the  lap  at  the 


COTTON  CARDS 


§18 


§18 


COTTON  CARDS 


9 


point  rts.  As  it  passes  from  the  lap  to  the  feed-roll,  each 
outer  edge  of  the  sheet  comes  in  contact  with  a  lap  guide — a 
wedge-shaped   piece   of    metal  bolted  on   the  inside   of  the 


plate  ae.  This  guide  turns  up  the  edges  of  the  sheet  to  a 
small  extent,  making  it  slightly  narrower  as  it  approaches 
the  feed-roll.     This  tends  to  prevent  the  outer  edge  of  the 


10 


COTTON  CARDS 


18 


cotton  from  spreading  and  producing  a  ragged  edge.  The 
feed-plate  b  extends  under  the  feed-roll  b^,  with  its  nose  pro- 
jecting upwards  in  front  of  the  feed-roll  almost  to  the  teeth 
shown  on  the  circumference  of  the  licker  c.  The  feed-roll  b^, 
which  revolves  in  the  direction  indicated  by  the  arrow,  is 
fluted  longitudinally  and  is  sufficiently  large  in  diameter  to 
resist  any  tendency  to  spring  or  bend  when  a  thick  piece  of 
cotton  passes  beneath  it.  Its  ends  rest  in  slides  and  it  is 
weighted  at  each  end  by  means  of  a  weight  b:,.  Figs.  1  and  2, 
on  a  lever  that  has,  as  a  fulcrum,  a  lug  on  the  feed-plate. 
The  lever  has  a  bearing  on  a  bushing  on  the  feed-roll  and 
thus  produces  the  pressure  of  the  feed-roll  on  the  sheet  of 

cotton  on  the  feed-plate, 
the  extent  qf  which  may 
be  regulated  by  moving 
the  weight  b^  along  the 
lever.  If  the  pressure 
is  too  light,  the  action 
of  the  licker  will  pull  the 
cotton  from  the  feed- 
roll  before  it  should 
be  delivered.  This  is 
known  as  plucking,  and 
results  in  cotton  being 
taken  by  the  licker  in 
large  and  tangled  flakes 
that    have    not    been 

Fig. 6  ,      ,  . 

opened,  thus  causmg  un- 
even work  and  requiring  the  finer  parts  of  the  card  to  perform 
the  heavy  work,  which  should  be  done  by  the  licker. 

Above  the  feed-roll  rests  a  small  iron  rod  b.  that  is  revolved 
by  frictional  contact  with  this  roll  and,  since  it  is  covered 
with  flannel,  collects  any  fiber  or  dirt  that  may  be  carried 
upwards  over  the  surface  of  the  feed-roll  and  thus  acts  as  a 
clearer.  It  also  serves  to  prevent  any  air-current  from  pass- 
ing between  the  feed-roll  and  the  licker  cover. 

The  lap  roll  a  is  positively  geared  with  the  feed-roll  /',  in 
such  a  manner  that  the  feed-roll  takes  up  exactly  the  amount 


§18 


COTTON  CARDS 


11 


of  cotton  delivered  by  the  lap  roll,  without  any  strain  or 
sagging,  and  as  it  revolves,  carries  this  cotton  over  the  nose 
of  the  feed-plate  so  that  a  fringe  is  brought  under  the  action 
of  the  licker  c  in  the  man- 
ner shown  in  Fig.  3,  and 
on  a  larger  scale  in 
Figs.  6,  7,  8,  and  12.  The 
upper  end  of  the  nose  of 
the  feed-plate  is  rounded 
so  as  not  to  damage  the 
cotton  resting  on  it  and 
pressed  against  it  by  the 
action  of  the  licker. 


7.  The  important  dif- 
ference in  various  feed- 
plates  is  in  the  distance 
from  the  bite  of  the  feed- 


FlG. 


roll  to  the  lower  end  of  the  face,  indicated  by  the  arrow  in 
Figs.  6,  7,  and  8.  By  regulating  this  distance  in  accordance 
with  the  length  of  staple  being  worked,  the  entire  length  of 

staple  is  so  supported  that 
it  receives  the  full  benefit 
of  the  cleaning  and  dis- 
entangling action  of  the 
licker,  which  reduces  the 
work  on  the  finer  parts  of 
the  card.  The  distance 
between  the  bite  of  the 
feed-roll  and  the  lower 
edge  of  the  face  of  the 
feed-plate  should  be  from 
-\t  to  i  inch  longer  than 
the  average  length  of  the 
cotton  being  worked,  as 
it  is  necessary  that  the 
fibers  should  be  free  from  the  bite  of  the  feed-roll  before  the 
action  of  the  teeth  of  the  licker  exerts  its  greatest  pull,  which 


Fig.  8 


12 


COTTON  CARDS 


§18 


Fig.  9 


is  at  the  lower  edge  of  the  plate;  otherwise,  the  fibers  would 

be  broken.     The  fringe  of    cotton  is  shown  in  Fig.  9.     The 

feed-plate  shown  in 
Fig.  6  is  suitable  for 
sea-island  cotton,  as 
it  has  a  face  that 
makes  it  possible  for 
the  long  fibers  to 
hang  down;  the  feed- 
plate  shown  in  Fig.  7 
is  the  style  common- 
ly used  in  America, 
being  adapted  for 
the  various  grades 
of  American  and 
Egyptian  cottons. 
A  feed-plate  with  a 
shorter    face,    as 

shown  in  Fig.  8,  is  sometimes  made  for  very  short-stapled 

cottons,  such  as  those  grown 

in  India  and  China. 

8.  Two-Roll  Method  of 
Feeding. — Some  cards,  in- 
stead of  having  the  feed- 
roll  and  feed-plate,  are  con- 
structed so  as  to  feed  the 
licker  by  means  of  two  feed- 
rolls,  as  shown  in  Fig.  10. 
This  is  an  older  form  of 
feeding  and  is  not  so  desir- 
able. The  disadvantage  of 
this  method  is  that  a  fourth 
of  the  diameter  of  the 
lower  feed-roll  is  covered 
with  loose  cotton  before  it 
reaches  the  point  where  it  comes  under  the  action  of  the 
teeth  of  the  licker,  thus  tending  to  increase  the  possibility 


Fig. 10 


§18 


COTTON  CARDS 


13 


of  the  licker  plucking  large  tufts  of  cotton  before  the  cotton 
ought  to  be  delivered.  This  system  is  also  inferior  on 
account  of  the  brief  opportunity  given  for  the  licker  to 
operate  on  the  fringe  of  cotton,  as  compared  with  the  roll 
and  feed-plate  system,  where  a  long  fringe  of  cotton  is 
presented  to  the  licker,  thus  giving  a  much  better  oppor- 
tunity for  combing  and  removing  the  dirt.  In  fact,  the 
combed  fringe  of  cotton  in  a  card  using  the  feed-plate 
can  be  arranged  to  be  about  three  times  the  length  of  that 
in  a  card  using  the  two-roll  method  of  feeding. 

9.     Licker. — The  object  of  either  of  these  feeds  is  to 
feed  a  regular  supply  of  cotton  to  the  licker  c,   shown  in 


=ls 


'//. 


'i 


(c) 


Fig.  11 

Fig.  3,  sometimes  called  the  leader,  taker-i7i,  or  licker-in. 
The  licker  consists  of  a  hollow  metal  roll  about  9  inches  in 
diameter.  On  the  outside  of  the  shell,  or  curved  part,  of  the 
roll,  and  extending  from  one  end  to  the  other,  are  spiral 
grooves  into  which  rows  of  teeth  are  inserted.  Fig.  11  {a) 
is  a  view  of  the  teeth  of  the  licker  as  they  appear  when 
looked  at  from  above,  and  also  shows  the  fibers  being  carried 
by  them  from  the  feed-roll,  thus  indicating  the  manner  in 
which  the  lap  of  cotton  is  separated  almost  into  individual 
fibers  by  the  operation  of  the  licker,  which  revolves  so 
rapidly,  compared  with  the  amount  of  cotton  delivered, 
that  about  2,000,000  teeth  pass  the  nose  of  the  feed- 
plate  while  1  inch  of  cotton  is  being  delivered.     It  will  be 


14  COTTON  CARDS  §18 

seen  from  Fig.  11  (a)  that  the  teeth  are  scattered,  or 
staggered,  over  the  shell  of  the  roll  in  consequence  of  the 
spiral  arrang-ement,  and  thus  one  tooth  does  not  strike 
the  fringe  of  cotton  exactly  where  the  previous  one  struck. 

Fig.  11  (r)  is  a  section  of  a  portion  of  a  licker  showing 
.the  construction  of  the  wire  from  which  the  teeth  are  formed, 
and  also  the  method  of  fastening  it  securely  in  the  roll. 
The  teeth  are  punched  out  of  a  narrow,  fiat,  strip  of  steel,  or 
wire,  carrying  a  thickened  rib  along  one  edge.  This  rib  is 
forced  into  the  grooves  prepared  in  the  shell  of  the  licker, 
and  the  teeth  project,  as  shown  in  Fig.  11  {b) ,  the  dotted 
line  indicating  the  depth  to  which  the  rib  is  sunk  into  the 
shell  of  the  licker.  Several  separate  spirals  are  laid  side  by 
side,  the  distance  between  two  rounds  of  any  one  spiral 
being  1  inch,  and  there  are  either  five,  six,  seven,  eight, 
nine,  or  ten  spirals  side  by  side,  according  to  the  class  of 
work  for  which  the  card  is  intended.  This  results  in  the 
distance  between  the  centers  of  two  consecutive  spirals 
being  either  i,  i,  t,  i,  i,  or  -iV  inch  apart,  while  the  points 
of  the  teeth  are  usually  \  inch  apart  lengthwise  of  the  wire. 

The  shell  of  the  licker  c  is  shown  in  section  in  Figs.  3 
and  12,  which  also  show  the  relative  position  of  the  licker  to 
the  contiguous  portions  of  the  card.  Below  the  feed-roll  b^, 
clearer  b.,,  and  feed-plate  b  are  seen  the  sections  of  two 
knives  d,dy,  which  are  known  as  mote  knives.  These 
knives  extend  across  the  card  in  the  position  shown,  with 
the  blade  of  the  knife  near  the  teeth  of  the  licker;  their 
object  is  to  remove  such  impurities  as  hulls,  husks,  bearded 
motes,  etc.,  or  in  other  words,  all  portions  of  matter  other 
than  cotton. 

At  the  nose  of  the  feed-plate,  the  licker  is  moving  in  a 
downward  direction  and  the  teeth  are  pointing  in  the  direc- 
tion of  its  revolution.  Since  the  fringe  of  cotton  is  held  by 
the  roll,  it  will  be  disentangled  as  the  teeth  pass  through  it. 
When  the  cotton  is  released  from  the  bite  of  the  feed-roll, 
it  will  be  taken  by  the  teeth  of  the  licker.  Any  short  fibers, 
however,  that  are  not  sufficiently  long  to  be  secured  by  the 
licker,  will  fall  through  the  space  between  the  mote  knives. 


§18 


COTTON  CARDS 


15 


The  cotton  that  drops  in  this  manner  is  known  as  fly,  and 
its  loss  is  beneficial  since  it  leaves  the  cotton  that  passes 
forwards  in  a  more  uniform  condition  as  regards  its  length 
of  staple.  The  licker  has  a  surface  speed  of  about  1,000  feet 
per  minute,  and  thus,  as  it  revolves  with  the  cotton,  the 
portions  of  the  fibers  that  are  not  in  contact  with  the  teeth 
will  be  thrown  out  by  centrifugal  force,  so  that  the  impurities 
that  project  from  the  fibers  on  the  surface  of  the  licker  will 


come  in  contact  with  the  blades  of  the  mote  knives  and  be 
removed,  dropping  into  the  cavity  below  the  knives. 

In  the  usual  construction  of  cards  there  are  two  of  these 
mote  knives,  although  one  may  be  used.  The  knives  are 
rigidly  held  in  suitable  supports,  and  in  the  style  under 
consideration  their  correct  angle  is  decided  by  the  machine 
builder,  the  arrangement  being  such  that  this  angle  cannot 
be  changed.  They  are  sometimes,  however,  made  adjustable, 
either  by  being  placed  in  a  swinging  frame  or,  as  in  Fig.  12, 
by   being    provided   with   setscrews   iL,  and   locknuts   ^Z,,  by 


16  COTTON  CARDS  §18 

means  of  which  either  knife  may  be  moved  closer  to  or 
farther  from  the  Hcker  and  then  locked  in  position;  or  the 
entire  bracket  d^  that  carries  both  knives,  may  be  moved 
farther  from  or  closer  to  the  feed-plate  by  loosening  the 
screw  d^,  sliding  the  entire  bracket  d^  on  the  frame  of  the 
licker  screen,  and  then  relocking  it. 

10.  Licker  Screen  and  Licker  Cover. — Underneath 
the  licker  is  a  casing  Cx  known  as  the  licker  screen.  This 
casing,  which  is  shown  in  Figs.  3  and  12,  is  made  of  tin  and 
extends  across  the  card.  The  portion  of  the  screen  directly 
under  the  licker  is  composed  of  transverse  bars  r,,  triangular 
in  shape  with  rounded  corners  and  set  with  their  bases 
inverted,  the  remainder  of  the  screen  being  plain  metal.  As 
the  licker  revolves,  whatever  heavy  impurities  were  not 
previously  taken  out  will  be  thrown  through  the  openings  in 
the  screen,  due  to  the  action  of  centrifugal  force.  The  cotton 
will  also  come  in  contact  with  the  screen  as  it  did  with  the 
mote  knives,  and  thus  additional  impurities  will  be  removed. 

The  top  of  the  licker  is  protected  by  a  metal  cover  c^ 
known  as  the  licker  cover",  or  bonnet,  which  is  curved  to 
correspond  to  the  curved  surface  of  the  licker.  This  cover 
is  held  in  position  by  two  disks,  one  at  each  end,  through 
which  the  shaft  of  the  licker  projects.  These  disks  are  held 
in  position  by  flanges  attached  to  them,  which  rest  in  the 
licker  bearings  attached  to  the  framework  of  the  card.  The 
licker  cover  is  screwed  to  these  disks,  and  thus  the  licker  is 
completely  enclosed.  The  points  where  the  shaft  passes 
through  the  disks  should  be  kept  clean  and  well  oiled;  other- 
wise, the  points  of  contact  will  become  heated  and  tend  to 
bind  the  shaft. 

11.  Card  Cylinders. — Situated  about  midway  between 
the  back  and  front  of  the  card,  and  a  prominent  feature  in  its 
construction,  is  the  cylinders,  mounted  on  the  shafts,.  This 
cylinder  is  usually  50  inches  in  diameter,  while  its  width 
depends  on  the  width  of  the  card,  being  usually  36,  40,  or 
45  inches.  Formerly  card  cylinders  were  made  of  wood,  but 
it  is  now  the  universal  practice  to  construct  them  of  cast  iron, 


§18  COTTON  CARDS  17 

as  metal  resists  the  changes  of  temperature  and  humidity- 
better  than  wood,  which  is  Hable  to  warp  and  twist  and  thus 
prevent  accurate  setting  of  the  card.  When  metal  cylinders 
were  first  used,  the  shell  ^,,  Fig.  3,  was  constructed  in  two 
pieces,  which  were  bolted  together,  but  the  best  and  most 
modern  method  is  to  make  the  shell  in  one  casting,  with  a 
sufficient  number  of  longitudinal  and  sectional  ribs  on  the 
interior  of  the  shell  to  make  it  strong  and  rigid.  This  shell 
is  mounted  at  each  end  on  a  spider  e^,  which  consists  of  a 
heavy  rim  cast  in  one  piece  with  a  series  of  strong  supporting 
arms.  The  hubs  of  the  spiders  are  accurately  bored  for  the 
reception  of  the  shaft  of  the  cylinder,  while  the  rims  are 
turned  to  a  true  shape  and  size  and  accurately  fitted  to  the 
ends  of  the  shell. 

The  cylinder  should  be  mounted  on  its  shaft  as  rigidly  as 
possible,  to  avoid  the  possibility  of  its  becoming  loose.  The 
method  adopted  in  the  card  under  consideration  is  as  follows: 
A  shaft  long  enough  to  pass  through  the  shell  and  project 
sufficiently  beyond  to  rest  in  the  bearings  and  also  carry  the 
necessary  pulleys  for  driving  the  cylinder  and  various  parts 
of  the  card  is  forced  into  its  position  through  the  hub  of  each 
of  the  spiders  by  means  of  a  powerful  screw  press.  It  is  then 
secured  to  the  spiders  by  means  of  two  large  taper  dowels, 
one  at  each  end  of  the  cylinder.  These  dowels  are  driven 
into  holes  drilled  through  the  hubs  of  the  spiders  and  through 
the  shaft. 

The  complete  cylinder  should  be  turned  and  afterwards 
ground  while  resting  on  its  own  bearing,  not  on  a  mandrel, 
so  as  to  produce  an  absolutely  true  surface  when  in  opera- 
tion. As  these  cylinders  are  intended  to  run  at  a  high  speed, 
they  are  also  balanced  so  as  to  insure  even  running,  and 
when  their  construction  is  complete  the  ends  are  cased  in 
with  sheet  iron  to  prevent  dust  or  fiber  from  entering  the 
cylinder  and  to  avoid  accidents  that  would  be  liable  to  result 
if  they  were  rotated  at  a  high  speed  with  uncovered  arms. 
In  Figs.  1  and  2,  the  letter  e  applies  more  directly  to  these 
end  casings,  although  it  is  used  to  indicate  the  cylinder 
as  a  whole. 


18  COTTON  CARDS  §18 

THe  surface  of  this  cylinder  is  covered  with  card  clothing, 
which  is  a  fabric  with  teeth  embedded  in  it  and  projecting 
through  it  at  an  angle.  The  addition  of  the  clothing  to  the 
cylinder  increases  its  diameter  to  about  50f  inches.  Refer- 
ence to  Fig.  3  shows  the  teeth  on  the  surface  of  this  cylinder 
pointing  in  the  direction  of  its  motion,  as  indicated  by  the 
arrow  shown  on  the  shell  of  the  cylinder.  A  point  on  the 
surface  of  the  cylinder  travels  about  2,150  feet  per  minute. 
The  teeth  of  the  wire  are  set  very  closely  in  the  fabric,  there 
being  about  72,000  points  to  the  square  foot  and  more  than 
3,000,000  points  on  the  entire  cylinder.  A  fuller  description 
of  this  clothing,  together  with  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
applied,  is  given  later. 

12.  The  description  of  the  licker  and  its  operation  on 
the  cotton  has  been  carried  far  enough  to  explain  how  the 
heavier  impurities  are  removed  from  the  fringe  of  cotton 
projecting  over  the  feed-plate  and  driven  downwards  into  'the 
space  beneath  the  card,  and  also  how  the  fibers  are  removed 
from  this  fringe  when  they  project  downwards  sufficiently  to 
be  released  and  are  carried  along  on  the  ends  of  the  teeth  of 
the  licker  at  a  speed  of  about  1,000  feet  per  minute.  These 
fibers  are  now  transferred  to  the  surface  of  the  cylinder, 
which  is  rendered  possible  by  the  respective  directions  of 
motion  of  the  cylinder  and  licker  and  by  the  direction  in 
which  their  teeth  are  pointing.  At  the  point  where  the 
licker  and  the  cylinder  almost  come  in  contact,  both  are 
moving  in  the  same  direction  and  have  their  teeth  pointing 
upwards.  The  teeth  on  the  licker  are  comparatively  coarsely 
set,  while  those  on  the  cylinder  are  finely  set  and  have  a 
much  greater  tendency  to  hold  and  to  retain  the  minute  fibers 
than  the  teeth  of  the  licker.  The  cylinder  is  also  revolving 
at  more  than  double  the  surface  speed  of  the  licker,  and  con- 
sequently the  fibers  are  swept  off  the  surface  of  the  licker 
where  the  surfaces  of  the  licker  and  cylinder  are  in  closest 
proximity  and  carried  upwards  on  the  surface  of  the  cylinder. 

Fig.  13  shows  the  relative  positions  and  the  respective 
styles  of  construction  of  the  licker  and  the  cylinder  at  the 


18 


COTTON  CARDS 


19 


point  where  they  approach  each  other,  while   Fig.  14  shows 
an  enlarged  view  of  the  teeth. 

In  Figs.  3  and  18,  a  metal  plate  designated  as  a  cover  is 
shown  in  connection  with  the  licker 
cover.  This  cover  e^,  which  is 
known  as  the  back  knife  plate, 
protects  the  cylinder  at  this  point 
and  prevents  an  air-current  from 
being  formed  by  the  motion  of  the 
cylinder.  A  wedge-shaped  piece 
of  wood  Ct  covered  with  flannel  is 
usually  placed  in  the  receptacle 
formed  by  the  junction  of  the  licker 
cover  with  the  back  knife  plate, 
in  order  to  prevent  any  possible 
chance  of  an  air-current. 


13.  Flats. — Above  the  cylin- 
der and  partly  surrounding  its 
upper  portion  is  a  chain  of  flats  /, 


Fig.  13 


as  shown  in  Figs.  1,  2,  and  3. 


These  are  the  parts  that  give 
the  name  renolvhig- 
top  flat  card  to  the 
card.  They  are  made 
of  cast  iron,  approxi- 
mately T-shaped  in 
section,  and  are  part- 
ly covered  with 
card  clothing  about 
\f,  inch  wide.  They 
are  usually  li  inches 
wide  and  slightly 
longer  than  the  width 
of  the  cylinder,  but 
are  covered  with 
clothing  only  over  the 
portion  of  their  length  that  corresponds  to  the  width  of  the 
cylinder.     This  clothing  is  of  a  finer  wire,  with  the  teeth  more 


20 


COTTON  CARDS 


§18 


closely  set,  than  that  on  the  cylinder,  and  is  usually  fastened 
to  the  flat  by  clips  on  each  side  of  the  flat.  There  are  from 
104  to  110  flats  on  a  card,  but  as  they  are  in  proximity  to  the 
cylinder  for  only  about  one-third  of  its  circumference,  only 
from  39  to  43  flats  are  presented  to  the  cylinder  at  one  time. 
Fig.  15  (a)  gives  an  end  view  of  a  flat,  while  (d)  shows  a 
section.  Each  end  is  drilled  and  tapped  to  receive  a  set- 
screw,  which  passes  through  a  hollow  stud  carrying  links, 
and  as  each  link  extends  from  one  flat  to  the  next  and  each 

end  of  each  link  encircles 
one  of  these  hollow  studs, 
the  flats  are  connected  in 
an  endless  chain.  The 
screw  that  is  inserted  is  of 
special  construction,  right- 
hand  screws  being  used  on 
one  side  of  the  card  and 
left-hand  screws  on  the 
other,  so  that  the  motion 
of  the  flats  will  tend  to 
tighten  rather  than  to 
loosen  the  screws  and  thus 
avoid  the  possibility  of 
their  becoming  loose  and 
allowing  a  flat  to  come  in 
contact  with  the  cylinder, 
which  would  cause  con- 
siderable damage. 

The  flats  must  be  so  ar- 
ranged that  they  will  be  supported  immediately  above  the 
cylinder  without  coming  in  contact  with  it  or  without  their 
supports  interfering  with  its  rotation.  This  is  done  by 
means  of  two  arches  ^,  Figs.  1  and  2,  which  are  strongly 
constructed  castings  resting  on  the  framework  of  the  card, 
one  on  each  side,  and  securely  bolted  to  it.  Each  arch 
carries  five  brackets  //,,  which  are  composed  of  several 
pieces.  One  portion  of  each  bracket  projects  upwards  suf- 
ficiently to  carry  a  pulley  that  serves  as  a  support  for  those 


§18  COTTON  CARDS  21 

flats  that  are  not  performing  any  carding  action  and  that 
are  passing  backwards  over  the  cj^linder,  while  another 
portion  of  each  bracket  serves  as  a  support  for  the  flexible 
bend  //  and  provides  a  ready  means  of  adjusting  it  in  order 
to  move  the  wire  teeth  of  the  flats  that  are  at  work  nearer  to 
or  farther  from  the  wire  teeth  on  the  surface  of  the  cylinder. 
A  fuller  description  of  the  arrangements  for  adjusting  the 
flexible  bends  will  be  given  in  the  description  of  setting  cards; 
it  is  sufficient  to  state  here  that  the  flexible  bends  can  be 
moved  farther  from,  or  nearer  to,  the  cylinder  shaft  at  any 
one  of  five  setting  points  on  either  side  of  the  card,  and  by 
this  means  the  upper  edges  of  the  bends  can  be  adjusted  so 
as  to  be  practically  concentric  with  the  circumference,  or 
wire   surface,  of  the  cylinder. 

About  forty  of  the  flats  rest  on  the  flexible  bend  at  each 
side  of  the  card;  the  portions  that  are  in  contact  with  the 
Dends  are  the  two  surfaces  ^  and  f^,  Figs.  15  and  16.  The 
chains  are  placed  as  near  the  flexible  bends  as  possible,  since 
if  they  are  too  far  away,  the  pull  and  weight  of  the  chains 
will  cause  a  deflection  in  the  flat.  It  is  absolutely  necessary 
that  the  chains  on  each  side  shall  be  exactly  alike  and  work 
with  the  same  tension,  as  the  smallest  variation  will  pull  the 
flats  out  of  their  proper  positions  over  the  cylinder,  and  their 
accurac}^  will  thus  be  destroyed.  Chains  are  now  so  made 
that  the  whole  variation  from  the  standard  is  not  more  than 
sV  inch.  The  flats  are,  of  course,  linked  together  on  each 
side  of  the  card  by  an  exactly  similar  arrangement,  except 
that,  as  has  been  previously  stated,  left-hand  screws  are  used 
on  one  side  and  right-hand  screws  on  the  other. 

14.  Another  representation  of  flats  at  work  is  given  in 
Fig.  16,  which  shows  them  resting  on  the  flexible  bend,  and 
held  so  that  the  points  of  the  wire  on  their  surfaces  are 
almost  touching  the  points  of  the  ware  on  the  cylinder.  The 
exact  distance  between  the  wire  on  the  flats  and  that  on  the 
cylinder  is  adjustable,  and  is  usually  about  i  i  n  o  inch.  The  dis- 
tance between  the  wires,  however,  is  not  the  same  at  each 
point  in  the  width  of  the  flat,  as  will  be  seen  by  referring 


22 


COTTON  CARDS 


§18 


Fig. 16 


to  Fig.  16.  The  wire  of  the  flat  at  the  point  /=  is  closer 
to  the  cylinder  than  at  the  point  /«  in  each  case.  The  end 
view  of  the  flat  in  Fig.  15  (a)  shows  that  the  metal  compos- 
ing the  flat  end  is  cut  away  more  on  the  side  f,  than  on  the 
side  /j;  consequently,  when  this  flat  is  turned  over  and  rests 
on  the  flexible  bend,  the  side  /,  will  drop  closer  to  the  cylin- 
der than  the  side  /j, 
and  the  wires  on  the 
side  /s  will  drop  lower 
than  the  wires  on  the 
side  /s,  thus  making  a 
slightly  wedge-shaped 
space  between  the 
wires  of  the  flat  and 
the  wires  of  the  cylin- 
der. The  side  /s  of  the  flat,  which  is  nearer  to  the  cylinder, 
is  known  as  the  heel,  while  the  side  that  is  farther  from  the 
cylinder,  namely,  /«,  is  known  as  the  toe.  Flats  are  always 
constructed  with  this  heel-and-toe  formation,  and  it  should 
be  preserved  throughout  the  life  of  the  card. 

The  chain  of  flats  is  not  stationary,  but  moves  at  a  very 
slow  speed,  those  flats  nearest  the  cylinder  moving  toward 
the  front  of  the  card,  while  of  course,  the  flats  that  are  not 
working  are  carried  backwards  over  the  top  of  those  that  are 
at  work.  The  means  of  imparting  motion  to  the  flats,  which 
will  be  described  in  connection  with  the  gearing  of  the  card, 
results  in  a  steady,  smooth  movement  usually  at  the  rate  of 
about  3  inches  per  minute,  although  this  may  be  changed  to 
either  a  faster  or  slower  speed,  according  to  whether  it  is 
desired  to  remove  more  or  less  waste,  respectively,  from  the 
cotton.  The  object  of  giving  a  movement  to  the  flats  is 
to  carry  toward  the  front  of  the  card  those  flats  that  have 
become  filled  with  impurities,  so  that  they  may  be  stripped 
and  brushed  out  before  they  become  too  full  of  leaf  and  other 
foreign  matter  to  perform  the  duty  of  carding  the  cotton. 


15.     The  method  of  supporting  the  flats  that  are  not  at 
work  is  shown  in  Figs.  1,  2,  and  3.     They  are  supported  at 


§18  COTTON  CARDS  23 

the  front  by  two  pulleys  /,,  one  at  each  end  of  a  shaft  that 
has  its  bearings  in  two  brackets,  one  on  each  side  of  the 
card.  On  the  same  shaft  with  these  two  pulleys  are  two 
sprocket  gears,  the  one  shown  being  marked  /«,  the  teeth  of 
which  mesh  with  the  ribs  on  the  back  of  the  flats,  and  as  this 
shaft  is  driven  by  means  of  worms  and  worm-gears,  the 
sprocket  gears  drive  the  flats.  The  portion  of  the  chain  of 
flats  directly  above  the  cylinder  and  resting  on  the  flexible 
bends  revolves  in  the  same  direction  as  the  cylinder,  namely, 
toward  the  front.  The  flats  that  are  not  at  work  move  back- 
wards, in  the  opposite  direction  to  the  cylinder,  and  rest  on 
pulleys  //j,  //s,  //g  supported  by  brackets  h^  attached  to  the  arch 
of  the  card  and  duplicated  on  each  side.  The  ends  of  the  flats 
rest  on  these  pulleys  and  impart  motion  to  them  by  frictional 
contact.  Two  of  these  pulleys  //«  at  about  the  center  of 
the  card  are  connected  by  a  shaft  //,o  that  extends  across  the 
card.  The  pulleys  lu,  which  are  directly  over  the  licker,  form 
the  turning  point  of  the  flats.  Those  that  have  been  cleaned 
and  carried  along  over  the  top  turn  and  pass  over  the  cylin- 
der to  perform  their  work,  while  those  that  have  just 
finished  their  work,  being  charged  with  impurities,  pass 
around  the  pulleys  at  the  front  and  are  cleaned.  The 
bracket  //,,  which  supports  the  pulley  //»,  is  so  constructed 
that  the  pulley  may  be  raised  or  lowered  to  take  out  the  sag, 
or  slack,  in  the  chain  of  flats  or  to  allow  sufiflcient  slack  for 
the  flats  to  revolve  freely. 

16.  As  previously  explained,  the  cotton  is  transferred 
to  the  face  of  the  cylinder  from  the  licker  at  the  point  where 
the  two  surfaces  nearly  touch  each  other,  and  is  carried 
upwards  and  forwards  by  it  until  brought  to  the  point  where 
the  flats  and  cylinder  are  brought  into  close  proximity. 
When  the  cylinder  reaches  the  first  flat,  the  cotton  on  its 
surface  has  a  tendency  to  project  from  it  on  account  of  the 
centrifugal  force  of  the  cylinder,  and  comes  in  contact  with 
the  teeth  at  the  toe  of  the  first  flat.  The  stock  is  gradually 
drawn  through  the  teeth  of  the  flat,  receiving  more  and  more 
of  a  combing  or  carding  action,  until  the  heel  of  the  flat  is 


24  COTTON  CARDS  §18 

reached,  where  the  teeth  of  the  flat  and  the  cylinder  are  in 
the  closest  proximity,  and  where  the  cotton  consequently 
receives   the  greatest  carding   action. 

Some  of  the  fibers  that  have  not  projected  sufficiently  may 
not  have  received  any  carding  action,  and  the  cylinder  carries 
them  forwards  to  the  next  flat.  Those  fibers  that  have  been 
carded  once  may  be  carded  again,  with  such  additional  fibers 
as  are  brought  under  the  action  of  the  succeeding  flat,  and 
so  on  throughout  the  entire  series.  The  flats  are  set  a  little 
closer  to  the  cylinder  at  the  front,  or  delivery  end,  than  at  the 
back,  or  feed,  end,  of  the  card,  and  this  method  combined  with 
the  heel-and-toe  arrangement  of  the  flat  insures  a  gradual  and 
effective  carding  of  all  the  fibers  before  they  have  passed 
under  the  last  flat.  The  small  impurities  are  left  behind, 
since  they  are  forced  between  the  teeth  of  the  wire  on  the 
flats  or  cylinder  and  remain  there  until  the  wire  is  cleaned,  or 
stripped,  as  will  be  explained  later.  Thus  the  short  fibers 
and  impurities  are  retained,  while  the  long,  clean  fibers  are 
passed  forwards. 

17.  Flat-Stripping  Combs. — At  the  front  of  the  card 
in  Figs.  1,  2,  and  3  is  shown  a  comb  j  supported  by  two 
arms  /d/s.  This  comb  consists  of  a  thin  sheet  of  steel 
attached  to  a  shaft  and  having  its  lower  edge  made  up  of  fine 
teeth.  It  is  capable  of  adjustment  so  as  to  be  moved  closer 
to,  or  farther  from,  the  wire  on  the  flats.  The  comb  is  given 
an  oscillating  motion  by  means  of  a  cam  acting  on  the  arm /a, 
Fig.  2,  and  at  each  stroke  strips  from  a  flat  a  portion  of  the 
short  fiber,  leaf,  and  other  impurities  that  adhere  to  its  face. 
With  the  arrangement  shown  in  Figs.  1  and  2,  a  close  setting 
between  the  comb  and  flats  is  not  possible  owing  to  the 
difficulty  in  giving  a  backward  movement  to  the  comb  with- 
out damaging  the  clothing  of  the  flats. 

Fig.  17  {a)  represents  a  method  of  actuating  the  comb  / 
that  differs  somewhat  from  that  adopted  on  the  card  shown 
in  Figs.  1  and  2.  Fig.  17  {b)  is  a  front  view  of  the  comby 
with  bearing  jr.  and  actuating  lever  /,.  This  comb  has  two 
motions;  namely,  an  oscillating   motion,   which  it  receives 


§18 


COTTON  CARDS 


25 


through  the  arm  j^  from  the  cam  j^,  by  letting  the  arm  j^ 
swing  around  the  point  j-,  as  a  fulcrum,  and  a  turning  motion 
in  its  bearings  75,  received  through  the  lever  /«  from  the 
cam  y'e.  The  teeth  of  the  flats  /  are  stripped  while  they  are 
pointing  downwards  by  a  downward  stroke  of  the  comb, 
governed  by  the  cam  j^.  As  the  comb  lifts,  it  is  traveling  in 
a  direction  opposite  to  that  in  which  the  teeth  are  pointing, 
and  to  prevent  injury  to  the  wire  the  comb  is  turned  away 


from  the  flats  by  means  of  the  cam  j^.  By  the  use  of  this 
arrangement,  a  closer  stripping  action  is  obtained  without 
damaging  the  wire. 

18.  Briisli. — After  the  waste,  known  as  Hat  strippings, 
has  been  removed  by  the  comb  y,  the  flats  are  brushed  out 
by  means  of  the  brush  k,  shown  in  Fig.  17  {a)  and  also  in 
Figs.  1,  2,  and  3.  This  brush  consists  of  a  wooden  barrel 
around  the  surface  of  which  bristles  are  inserted  in  four  spiral 
coils,  the  bristles  being  long,  for  a  short  distance  at  each  end 


26  COTTON  CARDS  §18 

in  order  to  brush  the  ends  of  the  flats,  and  shorter  in  the 
middle  so  as  to  just  reach  into  the  wire  of  the  flat  clothing. 
It  is  possible  to  adjust  the  position  of  this  revolving  brush 
so  as  to  remove  from  the  flats  any  impurities  that  were  not 
taken  out  by  the  comb.  The  brush  after  it  has  operated  on 
the  flats  is  cleaned  by  means  of  a  hackle  comb  /^,,  Figs.  1,  2, 
and  3,  the  teeth  of  which  project  into  the  bristles  of  the  brush 
and  remove  impurities.  The  hackle  comb  is  periodically 
cleaned  by  hand.  The  flat  strippings  are  either  allowed  to 
fall  from  the  stripping  comb  on  the  steel  covers  m^,e^  or  are 
collected  on  a  round  rod  /^,,  Fig.  1,  which  is  suspended 
directly  below  the  comb  and  rotated  by  frictional  contact 
with  the  flats,  thus  collecting  the  strippings  as  they  fall 
from  the  flats.  These  strippings,  whether  allowed  to  drop 
on  the  steel  cover  or  wound  on  the  surface  of  the  rod,  are 
removed  periodically  by  hand. 

19.  Cylinder  Screen. — Beneath  the  cylinder  is  placed  a 
screen  e^.  Fig.  3,  known  as  the  cylinder  screen.  This  con- 
sists of  circular  frames  on  each  side  of  the  card,  practically 
corresponding  to  the  curvature  of  the  cylinder  and  connected 
by  triangular  cross-bars  e^.  As  shown,  the  cylinder  screen  is 
constructed  in  halves,  which  are  held  together  at  e-,.  It  is  so 
supported  that  it  may  be  set  closer  to,  or  farther  from,  the 
cylinder,  while  at  the  same  time  it  retains  practically  the  same 
curvature  as  the  cylinder.  As  the  cylinder  revolves,  the  fibers 
that  project  come  in  contact  with  the  screens,  and  thus  the 
dirt  and  other  foreign  substances  will  be  struck  off  or  thrown 
through  the  openings  in  the  screens,  and  cannot  be  drawn 
back.  The  screens  also  aid  in  preventing  the  good  cotton 
from  leaving  the  cylinder.  A  screen  of  a  similar  character 
was  mentioned  as  being  placed  below  the  licker;  the  licker 
screens  and  cylinder  screens  are  usually  connected  so  as  to 
form  one  complete  adjustable  undercasing  beneath  both 
licker  and  cylinder. 

20.  Card  Frame. — The  entire  mechanism  thus  far 
described  is  supported  on  the  framework  of  the  card.  This 
consists   of   two   strong   and   solid  card   sides  /,   which   are 


§18  .     COTTON  CARDS  27 

connected  by  cross-girts  K  with  the  ends  accurately  milled 
and  securely  bolted  to  the  card  sides,  thus  forming-  a  large 
rectangular  frame.  To  this  is  attached  a  partition  /,,  Fig.  3, 
that  separates  the  dirt  and  fly  produced  by  the  mote  knives 
from  the  licker  and  cylinder  fly.  In  the  card  under  descrip- 
tion, this  partition  only  projects  downwards  for  half  the 
distance  between  the  licker  screen  and  the  floor.  In  some 
styles,  however,  the  partition  extends  down  to  the  floor  and 
has  a  door  in  the  center  so  that  access  can  be  obtained  to  the 
rear  of  the  cylinder  screen  and  space  below.  Around  the 
framework  of  the  card  are  doors  h  that  can  be  removed  for 
the  purpose  of  removing  fly,  setting  undercasings,  or  exam- 
ining the  under  parts  of  the  card.  There  are  four  of  these 
doors  on  each  side  of  the  card  in  addition  to  one  at  the  front 
and  one  at  the  back. 

21.  Doffer. — Directly  in  front  of  the  cylinder,  in  Figs.  1, 
2,  and  3,  is  seen  the  dofifer  m,  which  is  supported  by  the 
doflfer  shaft  w,  and  is  constructed  on  the  same  principle  as  the 
cylinder.  It  consists  of  a  perfectly  rigid  cylindrical  shell  w, 
carried  at  each  end  on  a  spider  Wa  with  six  arms,  to  which  it 
is  firmly  secured,  the  whole  being  rigidly  attached  to  the 
doffer  shaft.  The  doffer  is  covered  with  card  clothing  in  a 
similar  manner  to  the  cylinder,  except  that  the  wire  on  the 
doffer  is  more  closely  set  and  somewhat  finer.  The  doffer 
is  the  same  width  as  the  cylinder,  but  is  of  a  much  smaller 
diameter  usually  about  24  inches,  but  sometimes  27  inches. 
A  large  doffer  is  to  be  preferred,  since  it  gives  the  same  pro- 
duction with  a  lower  speed  or  a  larger  surface  speed  with  the 
same  number  of  revolutions,  and  also  gives  the  cylinder  a 
better  chance  to  deliver  the  fibers  on  account  of  its  presenting 
a  larger  wire  surface,  although  the  advantage  is  not  very 
great  in  either  case.  The  doffer  revolves  in  the  opposite 
direction  to  that  of  the  cylinder,  the  respective  direction  of 
motion  at  the  place  where  they  most  nearly  approach  one 
another  being  shown  by  arrows  in  Fig.  3.  At  this  place  also 
the  teeth  of  the  cylinder  and  doffer  point  in  opposite  direc- 
tions.    As  the  teeth  of  the  cylinder  point  in  the  direction  in 


28  COTTON  CARDS  §18 

which  it  moves  and  were  pointing  upwards  at  the  place  where 
they  took  the  cotton  from  the  licker,  they  consequently 
point  downwards  at  the  front  of  the  card,  while  the  teeth  of 
the  dofifer  at  this  place  point  upwards.  The  surface  speed  of 
the  dofifer,  which  varies  from  44  to  107  feet  per  minute, 
is  much  less  than  that  of  the  cylinder.  As  the  cylinder 
approaches  the  doffer  its  surface  is  covered  with  separated 
fibers  of  cotton.  Since  it  is  set  within  about  .005  inch 
from  the  doifer  and  the  dofifer  is  revolving  so  much  more 
slowly,  the  fibers  of  cotton  are  deposited  by  the  cylinder  on 
the  face  of  the  doffer.  They  are  condensed  considerably 
from  their  arrangement  on  the  surface  of  the  cylinder  because 
while  spread  over  from  20  to  40  inches  on  the  surface  of  the 
cylinder,  they  are  laid  in  the  space  of  about  1  inch  on  the 
surface  of  the  doffer.  The  amount  of  this  condensation  varies 
according  to  the  relative  speed  of  the  cylinder  and  dofifer. 

It  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  all  the  fibers  are  taken 
from  the  cylinder  by  the  dofifer  the  first  time  the  cotton 
passes  the  point  where  the  transfer  is  made,  as  they  may  not 
be  in  the  proper  position  to  become  attached  to  the  dofifer. 
In  this  case,  they  may  be  carried  around  by  the  cylinder  a 
second  time  and  be  more  efifectively  carded.  The  doffer 
may  be  considered  as  merely  a  convenient  means  of  removing 
the  fiber  from  the  cylinder.  It  is  not  intended  to  have  any 
cleaning  action,  as  the  cleaning  on  the  card  is  practically 
completed  when  the  cotton  has  passed  the  fiats,  but  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  does  remove  some  short  fiber  and  light 
impurities  that  adhere  within  the  interstices  of  the  wire. 

There  is  no  screen  beneath  the  dofifer,  as  it  is  unnecessary, 
but  placed  above  it  is  a  protection  consisting  of  a  metal 
cover  m^  known  as  the  doffer  bonnet  and  shown  in  Figs.  1, 
2,  and  3,  while  another  view  is  given  in  Fig.  18.  This 
metal  cover  extends  over  the  upper  surface  of  the  dofifer, 
protects  it  from  injury,  and  forms  a  portion  of  a  receptacle 
to  hold  flat  strippings  in  case  no  other  method  of  gathering 
them  is  provided.  At  the  point  vi^  it  extends  to,  and  is 
almost  in  contact  with,  a  plate  of  steel  e^  placed  over  the 
front    part    of    the    cylinder    that    performs    the   same   duty 


§18 


COTTON  CARDS 


29 


for  the  cylinder;  namely,  protecting*  it  from  damage  and 
forming  a  part  of  the  receptacle  for  the  fiat  strippings. 
This  plate  e^  extends  upwards  until  a  loose  portion  e^  is 
reached,  which  forms  a  door,  the  position  of  which,  when 
closed,  is  shown  in  Fig.  18  in  dotted  lines.  This  door  swings 
on  arms  r,o  so  constructed  that  it  can  be  thrown  forwards  and 
rest  on  the  doffer  bonnet;  it  is  shown  in  this  position  in 
Fig.  18.  Immediately  above  the  space  formed  by  the  open- 
ing of  this  door  is  another  plate  e^,  which  extends  from  the 


Fig.  18 


door  up  into  the  space  between  the  flats  and  the  cylinder, 
almost  in  contact  with  both  of  them.  This  platen,,  is  known 
as  the  front  knife  plate.  It  is  also  the  object  of  these 
covers,  or  plates,  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  cylinder, 
doffer,  and  licker,  to  guard  against  accidents  to  the  opera- 
tives, the  licker  being  especially  dangerous. 

A  draft  strip,  or  making-up  piece,  Wg  is  usually  placed  in  the 
recess  formed  by  the  doffer  bonnet  and  the  plate  c»,  so  as  to 
fit  the  angle  between  the  doffer  and  the  cylinder  and  thus 
prevent    dirt    from   entering   the   space   between   these   two 


30 


COTTON  CARDS 


18 


parts.     It  also  prevents  draft  and  thus  does  away  with  fly, 
which  would  otherwise  gather  and  come  through  in  lumps. 

22.  Doffer  Comb. — The  cotton  is  carried  around  by  the 
doffer  on  its  under  side  until  it  reaches  the  doffer  comb  ;/, 
Fig.  3,  which  is  directly  in  front  of  the  doffer  and  has  an 
oscillating  motion  of  about  1,800  or  2,000  strokes  per  minute. 
One  of    the  bearings  of    the  comb  is  an    ordinary  bearing, 


2  ma.  P,        Pjf. 


q- 


FiG.  19 


while  the  other  is  in  a  box  known  as  the  eonib  box,  which 
contains  the  eccentric  that  gives  the  motion  to  the  comb. 
The  position  of  these  bearings  can  be  altered  by  adjusting 
screws  in  order  to  obtain  the  proper  distance  between  the 
comb  and  the  surface  of  the  doffer.  The  comb,  as  shown  in 
Figs.  1,  2,  and  3,  consists  of  a  thin  sheet  of  steel  attached  to 
a  shaft  by  a  number  of  small  arms;  its  lower  edge  is  com- 
posed of  fine  teeth  resembling  somewhat  the  teeth  of  a  fine 


§18  COTTON  CARDS 


31 


saw.  The  teeth  of  the  doffer,  which  were  pointing  upwards 
when  in  position  to  receive  the  cotton  from  the  cylinder,  are 
pointing  downwards  at  the  point  nearest  the  comb.  The 
downward  strokes  of  the  comb  are  in  the  same  direction  that 
the  teeth  of  the  doiTer  are  pointing  and  in  close  proximity 
to  them,  thus  making  the  operation  of  removing  the  cotton 
very  easy. 

The  cotton,  when  it  leaves  the  doffer,  is  in  the  form  of  a 
transparent  web  of  the  same  width  as  the  doffer.  The  next 
work  required  of  the  card  is  that  of  reducing  the  web  to  a 
sliver.  This  is  attained  by  passing  the  cotton  through  a 
guide  and  then  through  a  trumpet  o,  on  the  other  side  of 
which  are  two  calender  rolls  o,,  o„  Figs.  1,  3,  and  19.  The 
bottom  roll  is  4i  inches  wide  and  3  inches  in  diameter,  and 
by  means  of  a  gear  drives  the  top  calender  roll,  which  is  self- 
weighted,  being  4  inches  in  diameter.  The  object  of  these 
rolls  is  to  compress  the  sliver  so  that  it  will  occupy  a  com- 
paratively small  space. 

23.  Coiler.— From  the  calender  rolls  o„o,  the  cotton 
passes  through  a  hole  in  the  cover  p  of  the  upright  frame- 
work, known  as  the  coiler  liead,  the  connections  of  which 
are  shown  in  Fig.  19.  It  is  drawn  through  the  hole  in  the 
cover  by  two  coiler  calender  rolls,  the  one  shown  being 
marked/),,  which  further  condense  it,  and  is  then  delivered 
into  an  inclined  tube  A  on  a  revolving  plate  A-  The  end  of 
the  tube  that  receives  the  cotton  is  in  the  center  of  the  plate, 
directly  under  the  calender  rolls  />,,  while  the  end  of  the  tube 
from  which  the  cotton  is  delivered  is  at  the  outer  edge  of  the 
plate  p:,.  At  the  bottom  of  the  coiler  head  is  a  plate  g  on 
which  rests  the  can  that  receives  the  sliver.  In  consequence 
of  the  sliver  being  delivered  down  the  rotating  tube  A,  it  will 
describe  a  circle  and  be  laid  in  the  can  in  the  form  of  coils. 
The  circle  described  by  the  bottom  of  the  tube  p,  is  little 
more  than  half  the  diameter  of  the  can.  If  the  top  of  the 
tube  p,  were  directly  over  the  center  of  the  plate  g  on  which 
the  can  rests  and  if  the  can  did  not  turn,  causing  the  laying 
of  the  sliver  to  depend  entirely  on  the  rotation  of  the  coiler 


32 


COTTON  CARDS 


§18 


tube,  the  sliver  would  be  placed  in  a  series  of  ascending 
coils,  which  would  have  as  a  center  the  center  of  the  can, 
while  the  outside  edges  of  the  coils  would  be  placed  some 
distance  from  the  side  of  the  can.  The  result  of  this  would 
be  that  only  a  very  short  length  of  sliver  could  be  laid  in  the 
can  and  the  coils  would  become  entangled,  causing  the  sliver 
to  be  broken  as  it  was  drawn  out.  In  order  to  overcome  this 
difficulty  the  top  of  the  tube  p^  is  slightly  beyond  the  center 
of  the  plate  q,  while  q  is  revolving  in  the  opposite  direction 
to  that  of  the  tube  p^,  but  very  slowly  as  compared  with  the 
speed  of  this  tube,  p^  making  about  26  revolutions  to  1  of  q. 

As  a  result  of  this 
arrangement  each 
coil  of  sliver  that  is 
placed  in  the  can  is 
in  contact  with  the 
side  of  the  can  and 
no  one  coil  comes 
directly  above  the 
preceding  coil.  A 
top  view  of  the  sliver 
as  it  appears  when 
placed  in  the  can  in 
this  manner  is  shown 
in  Fig.  20. 

The  cover  for  the 
coiler  head  is  now 
constructed  so  as  to  be  held  in  position  by  a  hinge,  on  which 
it  can  be  raised  and  held  open,  without  breaking  the  sliver. 
This  gives  an  opportunity  for  inspection  and  oiling. 

Formerly  coiler'  heads  were  so  constructed  that  it  was 
necessary  to  remove  the  sliver  from  the  coiler  or  break  the 
end  of  sliver  in  order  to  oil  the  bearings,  which  necessarily 
caused  additional  waste  and  loss  of  production.  Occasionally 
the  sliver  breaks  and  collects  within  the  coiler,  causing  what 
is  called  a  biing-iip. 

One  feature  of  the  coiler  head  for  the  card  under  descrip- 
tion is  the  use  of  the  swinging  calender  roll  in  place  of  the 


§18  COTTON  CARDS  33 

old-style  calender  roll,  which  revolved  in  fixed  bearings  and 
caused  considerable  trouble  in  case  of  a  bung-up  in  the  coiler 
head.  The  calender  roll  that  receives  motion  from  the 
upright  shaft  revolves  in  fixed  bearings,  while  the  other  one 
is  mounted  on  a  swing,  or  hinge,  bearing.  The  weight  of  the 
roll  and  bearing  is  sufficient  to  keep  it  in  contact  with  the 
fixed  roll.  It  receives  motion  from  the  other  roll  by  means  of 
two  spur  gears,  one  on  the  shaft  of  the  roll  revolving  in  fixed 
bearings  and  the  other  on  the  shaft  of  the  swinging  roll. 
When  the  coiler  tube  chokes,  the  sliver  collects  around  the 
top  of  it  and  forces  the  swinging  roll  up,  thus  throwing  it 
out  of  gear  with  the  fixed  roll  and  preventing  any  more 
cotton  from  entering  the  coiler.  When  a  lap  forms  on  either 
roll,  the  increasing  diameter  of  the  roll  forces  up  the  swing- 
ing roll  and  thus  prevents  the  cotton  from  winding  so  firmly 
around  the  roll.  This  arrangement  is  also  very  convenient 
because  of  the  fact  that  the  swinging  roll  can  be  moved  out 
of  the  way  in  removing  the  cotton  that  has  lapped  around  one 
of  the  rolls,  thus  making  it  very  easy  to  remove  the  lap, 
whether  it  has  formed  on  the  swinging  roll  or  on  the  stationary 
roll.  It  also  does  away  with  the  strain  on  the  bearings  and  the 
necessity  of  using  a  knife  to  cut  the  lap  from  the  roll,  and  thus 
prevents  the  surface  of  the  roll  from  being  damaged  by  the 
careless  use  of  a  knife.       

GEARING 

24.  In  describing  the  method  of  driving  the  different 
parts  of  the  card  reference  will  be  made  to  Figs.  21  and  22, 
but  in  order  to  more  fully  identify  the  parts,  the  plan  of  the 
gearing,  Fig.  23,  and  also  those  figures  that  show  the  parts 
of  the  card  assembled,  such  as  Figs.  1  and  2,  should  be  con- 
sulted, especially  for  those  parts  that  cannot  well  be  indicated 
on  Figs.  21  and  22.  Referring  first  to  Fig.  21,  which  shows 
the  main  driving  side  of  the  card,  the  tight  pulley  ^„  on  the 
end  of  the  cylinder  shaft  receives  motion  from  the  driving 
belt  ^,4,  which  is  driven  from  the  pulley  either  on  the  main 
shaft  or  a  countershaft  of  the  room.  On  the  other  side  of 
the  cylinder,  as  shown  in  Fig.  22,  is  placed  a  pulley  with  four 


34 


COTTON  CARDS 


§18 


separate  faces,  the  face  ^,5  carrying-  the  crossed  belt  that 
drives  the  pulley  c^  on  the  licker  c.  Referring  again  to  Fig.  21, 
on  the  other  end  of  the  licker  is  a  pulley  <:«  that  drives  the 
barrow  pulley  ?;^  by  means  of  a  crossed  belt.     Compounded 


vith  this  pulley  is  the  barrow  gear  ;;;«,  which  drives  the  doffer 
gear  m^  on  the  end  of  the  doffer  shaft. 

Reference  should  now  be  made  to  Fig.  22,  which  shows 
the  other  side  of  the  doffer.     On  this  side  is  a  bevel  gear  w,o 


§18 


COTTON  CARDS 


35 


driving  a  bevel  gear  w,.  on  the  side  shaft  w.^,  which  carries 
at  its  other  end  a  bevel  gear  b^  driving  a  gear  l\  on  the  end 
of  the  feed-roll.  On  the  other  end  of  the  feed-roll,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  21,  is  a  gear  l\  that  drives  by  means  of  two  carrier 
gears  the  lap  roll  a.  Referring  again  to  Fig.  22,  the  pulley  e^s, 
by  means  of  the  band  ;/=,  drives  the  pulley  n^,  that  is  com- 
pounded with  another  pulley  n^\  this,  by  means  of  the  band  ?^3, 
drives  a  pulley  n^  on  a  short  shaft  carrying  the  eccentric  that 
gives  motion  to  the  dofifer  comb.  A  third  pulley  e^,  on  the 
end  of    the  cylinder  shaft,  as  shown  in  Fig.  22,  drives   by 


Fig.  22 

means  of  the  belt  /«  the  pulley  /,„,  which  is  on  the  same  shaft 
as  the  worm  /,,  gearing  into  the  worm-gear /,2.  On  the  short 
shaft  with  the  worm-gear  /.^  is  a  worm  /„  driving  the  worm- 
gear  /i4,  which  is  mounted  on  a  shaft  carrying  two  sprockets 
that  gear  directly  into  the  ribs  on  the  back  of  the  flats. 

The  coiler  connections  are  driven  as  follows,  reference 
being  made  to  Figs.  19  and  28:  The  large  gear  vi^.  Fig.  23, 
that  is  on  the  end  of  the  dol?er  and  receives  motion  from 
the  barrow  gear,  drives  by  means  of  two  carrier  gears  a 
gear  ^^  on  one  end  of  the  calender-roll  shaft  o^.  On  the 
other  end  of  this  shaft  is  a  bevel  gear  o^.  Fig.  19,  that  drives 


13       ^      I  — 


ni-f- 


6  Dill 


2i''Dia. 


9  Dia 


r,0  Dhi 


24  Dill. 


Fig.  23 


120 


I 


t! 


16 


D 


y- 


m,3 


^Q 


o 

□ 


Lmii 


40 

m„ 


2  Dia. 


§18  COTTON  CARDS  37 

the  bevel  gear  o^  on  an  upright  shaft.  At  the  upper  end  of 
this  upright  shaft  are  two  gears,  the  gear/>5  driving  the  gear;!'^ 
on  the  coiler  plate,  while  the  bevel  gear  p^  drives  the  bevel 
gear  p.,  on  the  coiler  calender-roll  shaft.  The  can  table  g  is 
driven  by  means  of  a  number  of  gears  at  the  bottom  of  the 
upright  shaft  and  in  a  rather  circuitous  manner,  which  is 
rendered  necessary  in  order  to  obtain  the  slow  motion  at 
which  the  can  table  should  travel.  The  gear  g^  is  fast  to 
the  upright  shaft  ^,,  while  the  gears  g^,  g^  are  loose  on  the 
same  shaft  but  compounded  by  means  of  a  sleeve.  The 
gear  g^  drives  the  gear  g^,  which  is  compounded  with 
the  gear  g^,  both  gears  working  loosely  on  a  short  upright 
stud.  The  gear  g^  drives  the  gear  g^,  and  since  g^  and  g^  are 
compounded,  the  gear  g^  on  the  can  table  will  receive  motion 
through  the  carrier  g,. 

25.  When  it  is  desired  to  stop  the  card  from  delivering 
the  cotton  and  yet  not  break  down  the  end  at  the  coiler,  the 
catch  h,  Fig.  24,  is  released.  This  figure  shows  one  method 
of  driving  a  doflfer;  it  will  be  seen  that  as  the  feed-roll,  calen- 
der roll,  and  all  coiler  connections  are  driven  from  the  dof- 
fer,  they  will  stop  when  the  catch  U  is  released,  throwing  the 
gear  w,  out  of  contact  with  the  doffer  gear  w^.  By  this 
method  it  is  a  simple  matter  to  stop  the  delivery  of  the  cot- 
ton very  suddenly  if  necessary  and  at  the  same  time  allow 
the  swiftly  revolving  parts,  such  as  the  cylinder  and  licker,  to 
remain  in  motion.  Another  advantage  of  this  arrangement 
is  that  no  waste  results  when  the  delivery  is  stopped.  When 
the  gear  vu  is  again  meshed  with  the  gear  m^,  the  portion  of 
the  doflfer  that  was  presented  to  the  cylinder  when  the  dof- 
fer was  stopped  will  contain  an  excessive  amount  of  cotton. 
This  excess  will  cause  a  thick  or  uneven  place  in  the  sliver, 
which  should  be  removed.  This  arrangement  is  sometimes 
called  the  barrow  motion,  and  the  gear  We  the  barrow  gear. 

The  gear  w,  is  usually  a  change  gear,  so  that  the  doflfer 
may  be  driven  at  any  required  speed,  as  the  production  of 
the  card  depends  on  the  speed  of  the  doflfer.  In  decreasing 
or    increasing    the    speed    of    the    doflfer    by  changing    the 


38 


COTTON  CARDS 


§18 


^18  COTTON  CARDS  39 

gear  m^,  the  draft  of  the  card  and,  consequently,  the  weight 
of  the  sliver  delivered,  are  not  affected,  since  the  feed-rolls, 
lap  roll,  and  all  coiler  connections  receive  motion  from  the 
dofTer  and  therefore  have  the  same  relative  speed,  whether 
Ws  is  a  large  or  a  small  gear. 

Another  method  of  stopping  the  delivery  of  the  cotton 
without  breaking  down  the  end  at  the  coiler  is  to  break  the 
connection  at  the  doffer  by  moving  the  side  shaft  w,„ 
Figs.  22  and  23,  and  also  break  the  connection  between  the 
doffer  and  calender  rolls  by  turning  the  handle  on  the  carrier 
gear  w,3,  Fig.  24.  The  shaft  w..  carries  a  gear  at  each  end, 
the  gear  b,  driving  the  gear  b,  that  is  on  the  end  of  the  feed- 
roll,  while  the  gear  w„  receives  motion  from  the  gear  w,„  on 
the  end  of  the  doflfer  shaft.  By  means  of  the  movable  bear- 
ing ?;/,^,  it  is  possible  to  move  the  shaft  w,,  outwards  at  its 
front  end  and  thereby  disconnect  the  gears  w,„,  w„  and 
thus  stop  the  feed,  while  by  throwing  out  the  gear  m,^  the 
calender  rolls  are  stopped,  thus  allowing  the  cotton  that  is  on 
the  dofifer  to  fall  between  the  doffer  and  the  calender  rolls. 
This  method  of  stopping  the  delivery  of  cotton  by  the 
card  allows  the  doflfer  to  run  without  making  an  uneven 
and   cut    sliver   when    restarting. 


SPEED    CALCULATIONS 

26.  If  the  driving  shaft  makes  340  revolutions  per  min- 
ute and  carries  a  10-inch  pulley,  the  pulley  <?.„  Figs.  21  and 
23,  which  is  20  inches  in  diameter,  will  be  driven  as  follows: 

340x10        ,„^ 

20 =  I'O  revolutions  per  mmute 

As  the  cylinder  is  50f  inches  in  diameter,  allowing  |  inch 
for  clothing,  its  surface  speed  will  therefore  be  as  follows: 

170x501x3.1416       o  o-q  ^-o  x 

T^ =  z,Joo.b/y  feet  per  minute 

27.  Licker.— On  the  end  of  the  cylinder  opposite  that 
of  the  pulley  r,,  is  the  pulley  ^,s.  Figs.  22  and  23,  which  is 
connected  to  the  pulley  c^  by  means  of  a  cross-belt  and  thus 


40  COTTON  CARDS  §18 

drives  the  Hcker.  The  diameter  of  if, 5  is  18  inches  and  that 
of  Cs  is  7  inches,  so  that  when  the  cyhnder  makes  170  revolu- 
tions per  minute,  the  revolutions  per  minute  made  by  the 
licker  will  be  as  follows: 

— — =  437.142  revolutions  per  minute 

7 

As  the  licker  is  usually  9  inches  in  diameter,  its  surface 
speed  will  be  as  follows: 

437.142  X  9  X  3.1416  ^        29.993  feet  per  minute 
12 

28.  Doffer.— The  4-inch  pulley  c^,  Figs.  21  and  23,  on 
the  end  of  the  licker  drives  the  18-inch  barrow  pulley  m,, 
which  is  compounded  with  the  doffer  change  gear  nis.  This 
gear,  for  the  purpose  of  calculation,  will  be  assumed  to  have 
22  teeth;  the  gear  on  the  end  of  the  doffer  contains  190  teeth. 
With  the  licker  making  437.142  revolutions  per  minute,  the 
speed  of  the  doffer  will  be  as  follows: 

437.142  X  4x  22       n  oiq  w 

~ — — —  =  11.248  revolutions  per  mmute 

18  X  190 

As  the  doffer  is  24-f  inches  in  diameter,  allowing  I  inch 
for  clothing,  its  surface  speed  will  be  as  follows: 

11.248  X  241  X  3.1416        -o  cqw     . 

— ^-^ =   <  2.881  feet  per  mmute 

12 

On  some  cards  there  is  an  arrangement  for  driving  the 
doffer  at  two  different  speeds,  the  slow  speed  being  used 
when  piecing  up  an  end.  One  method  of  construction  for 
driving  at  different  speeds  is  to  have  two  pulleys  of  different 
sizes  on  the  licker  shaft  and  to  have  two  belts  extending 
to  W7.  At  7)1.  there  are  three  pulleys,  the  center  pulley  being 
loose,  while  the  other  two  are  fastened  to  the  shaft;  conse- 
quently, when  one  belt  is  on  the  loose  pulley,  the  other  is 
on  one  of  the  fastened  pulleys.  The  belts  are  shifted  by 
means  of  a  shipper  handle. 

29.  Flats. — With  the  cylinder  making  170  revolutions 
per  minute;  diameter  of  e^,  Figs.  22  and  23,  5  inches; 
diameter  of   /,„,   10   inches;    /,i,   single-threaded  worm;   /,„ 


§18  COTTON  CARDS  41 

16  teeth;  /„,  single-threaded  worm;  /„,  42  teeth;  and  diam- 
eter of  pulley  driving-  flats,  8  inches;  the  speed  of  the  flats  will 
be  as  follows: 

170_X5X1X1X8X3^16  ^  3^79  .^^^^^         ^.^^^^ 
10  X  16  X  42 

30.  Draft. — The  following  examples  illustrate  the  man- 
ner of  finding  the  draft: 

Example  1. — Find  the  draft  between  the  lap  roll  and  feed-roll, 
referring  to  Fig.  23  for  data. 

2  5  X  48 
Solution. —    ^ — v^^  =  1.176,  draft.     Ans. 
b  X  1/ 

Example  2. — Find  the  draft  between  the  feed-roll  and  doflfer,  using 
a  16  change  gear  at  d^. 

^  24  X  40  X  120        ^o    A     u       a 

Solution.-    ^  ^  ^q  ^  ^^  -  '2,  draft.     Ans. 

Example  3. — Find  the  draft  between  the  dofifer  and  bottom  cal- 
ender roll. 

„  3X  190       ,  ^.,     ,     ,,       . 

Solution. —    -- — 7-  =  1.13,  draft.     Ans. 

*-4:    X   — I 

ExAMPLE  4. — Find  the  draft  between  the  bottom  calender  roll  and 
coiler  calender  rolls,  referring  to  Fig.  19  for  data. 

2  X  24  X  18  X  27        ,  n-o    ^     ..       a 
Solution.-    3  ^  24  x  18  X  17  =  ^■^'^'  '^'^^'-    ^°^- 

Example  5. — Find  the  total  draft  of  the  card  shown  in  Fig.  23, 
figuring  from  the  coiler  calender  rolls  />,,  Figs.  19  and  23,  to  the  lap 
roll  a,  Figs.  21  and  23,  and  using  a  16  change  gear  at  d^. 

„  2X24X18X27X190X40X120X48       ,^,,00^     r. 

Solution.-    -6^x24X18X17x21X40X16x17    =  101-433.  draft. 

Ans. 

Proof. — To  prove  that  intermediate  drafts  equal  total 
draft,  1.176  X  72  X  1.130  X  1.059  =  101.325. 

31.  Waste. — In  the  passage  of  the  cotton  through  the 
card  there  are  several  places  where  waste  is  made.  There  is 
a  certain  amount  under  the  licker  and  the  cylinder,  and  also 
between  the  wires  of  the  clothing  on  the  flats,  cylinder,  and 
doffer.  This  amount  of  waste  should  not  as  a  rule  exceed 
5  per  cent.,  and  the  work  of  the  card  should  be  closely 
watched,    especially   with   regard    to    the    waste   under   the 


42 


COTTON  CARDS 


18 


cylinder,  which  should  be  examined  at  frequent  intervals  to 
see  if  it  contains  too  much  good  cotton. 

32.  Prodviction. — The  production  of  the  card  varies 
according  to  the  class  of  work,  a  good  production  on  low 
numbers  being  from  700  to  1,000  pounds  per  week,  while 
for  fine  yarns  it  is  much  lower.  The  weights  of  delivered 
sliver  suitable  for  certain  classes  of  work  are  as  follows: 


Variety  of  Cotton 

1 

Numbers 

Weight  per  Yard 

Grains 

IS   to    IDS 

70 

IDS   to    15s 

65 

Average  American    ... 

15s  to  20s 

60 

20s  to  30s 

55 

30s  to  40s 

50 

1    40s  to  60s 

50 

Allan-seed  and  Peelers      .  ■ 

60s  to  70s 

45 

70s   to    IOCS 

40 

40s  to  60s 

55 

Egyptian " 

60s  to  70s 

50 

70s  to   lOOS 

45 

Sea-Island 

70s   to    IOCS 

loos  upwards 

35 
30 

33.  Wei§:ht  and  Horsepower. — The  weight  of  a  single 
revolving  flat  card  is  about  5,000  pounds.  It  requires  from 
I  to  1  horsepower  to  drive  it  after  the  initial  strain  of  start- 
ing, which  requires  much  greater  power. 

34.  Uimensions. — A  40-inch  revolving  flat  card  with  a 
24-inch  doffer  occupies  a  space  about  9  feet  Hi  inches  by 
5  feet  4  inches.  Extra  allowance  must  be  made  for  the  diam- 
eter of  the  lap.  When  the  doffer  is  45  inches  wide,  5  inches 
must  be  added  to  the  width  in  the  above  dimensions,  while 
3  inches  must  be  added  to  the  length  when  the  doffer  is 
27  inches  in  diameter. 


COTTON  CARDS 

(PART  2) 


FORMER    METHODS    OF    CARD 
CONSTRUCTION 

1.  While  the  machine  described  in  Cotto7i  Cards,  Part  1, 
is  the  one  that  is  now  almost  universally  adopted  for  cotton 
carding,  it  does  not  by  any  means  adequately  represent  the 
different  methods  of  carding  that  are,  or  have  been,  used. 
The  method  of  carding  cotton  before  the  era  of  machinery 
was  by  means  of  hand  cards,  which  consisted  merely  of  pieces 
of  wood  about  12  inches  long  and  5  inches  wide  to  which  a 
handle  was  attached.  A  piece  of  leather  through  which  a 
number  of  iron  wires  had  been  driven  was  attached  to  the 
surface  of  the  board  and  two  of  these  hand  cards  were  used, 
the  operator  holding  one  in  each  hand.  The  cotton,  after 
being  picked  and  cleaned,  was  spread  on  one  of  these  cards, 
and  the  other  was  used  to  brush,  scrape,  or  comb  it  until  the 
fibers  of  cotton  lay  comparatively  parallel  to  one  another. 
From  this  were  obtained  soft  fleecy  rolls  about  12  inches 
long  and  f  inch  in  diameter,  called  cardings.  These  cardings 
were  pieced  together  and  spun  on  the  hand  spinning  wheel. 
Later  developments  resulted  in  the  introduction  of  the 
principle  of  carding  by  means  of  a  cylinder  carrying  wire 
teeth  operating  against  a  stationary  framework  carrying  wire 
teeth,  this  being  the  first  style  of  mechanical  card.  From 
this  was  ultimately  developed  a  card  used  very  largely  in 
America  under  the  name  of  stationary-top  flat  card,  and  to  a 
limited  extent  in  Europe,  under  the  name  of  the  Wellman 
card.     This  stationary-top  flat  card  was  used  in  almost  every 

For  notice  of  copyri^hl.  see  page  immediately  following  the  title  page 
219 


2  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

American  cotton  mill  until  within  the  last  10  years,  and  is 
still  used  occasionally. 

The  most  popular  style  of  card  in  Europe  prior  to  the 
development  of  the  revolving-top  flat  card  was  that  known 
as  the  roller-and-clearer  card,  sometimes  called  the  worker-and- 
stripper  card.  This  roller-and-clearer  card  was  constructed 
with  either  one  or  two  cylinders,  being  known  respectively 
as  a  single  or  a  double  card.  Sometimes  a  combination  card 
was  built  with  rollers  and  clearers  on  the  back  cylinder  and 
flats  on  the  front;  combination  cards  have  also  been  built 
with  single  cylinders  having  flats  at  the  front  and  rollers  and 
clearers  behind.  For  special  purposes  cards  have  been  built 
with  three  cylinders.  The  system  of  carding  cotton  by 
rollers  and  clearers,  or  workers  and  strippers,  somewhat 
resembles  the  methods  now  in  use  for  carding  purposes  in 
the  woolen  industry. 

Owing  to  the  world-wide  tendency  now  to  adopt  the  revolv- 
ing-top flat  card  in  the  cotton  industry,  considerable  space 
has  been  devoted  to  thoroughly  describing  that  style  of 
construction,  but  as  there  are  still  in  use  a  number  of  station- 
ary-top flat  cards  and  also  a  number  of  the  roller-and-clearer 
cards,  a  brief  description  of  each  of  these  styles  of  construc- 
tion will  be  given. 

STATIONARY-TOP  FliAT  CARD 

2.  The  stationary-top  flat  card,  shown  in  Fig.  1,  is  a 
smaller  and  less  substantial  machine  than  the  revolving-top 
flat  card,  but  is  very  similar  to  it  in  the  principle  of  carding 
the  cotton,  differing  mainly  in  the  method  of  stripping  the 
flats.  The  machine  consists  of  the  usual  framework  sup- 
porting the  cylinder  and  doffer  together  with  the  various 
parts  common  to  all  cards,  while  above  the  cylinder  are 
placed  a  number  of  flats.  In  the  older  cards  these  are  con- 
structed of  wood,  as  shown  in  Fig.  1,  but  in  the  newer  cards 
they  are  made  of  iron.  Iron  flats  are  usually  made  If  inches 
wide  with  a  strip  of  clothing  \\  inch  wide,  and  it  is  possible 
to  have  40  of  them  extending  over  an  arc  equal  to  about  two- 
fifths  of  the  circumference  of  the  cylinder.    When  wooden  flats 


19 


COTTON  CARDS 


are  used  it  is  not  possible  to  have  so  many.  The  functions 
of  these  flats  are  the  same  as  of  those  in  the  revolving  flat 
card  previously  described.  The  flats  rest  on  the  arch  of  the 
card  and  are  so  constructed  as  to  preserve  the  proper  angle 
with  the  card  wire  on  the  cylinder.  Each  flat  is  set  inde- 
pendently of  any  other  by  means  of  threaded  pins  secured 
by  nuts. 

The   peculiarity   of   this   card   consists   in   the   method   of 
stripping  the  fiats.     An   arrangement  is   shown   above   the 


machine  in  Fig.  1  by  which  any  one  flat  may  be  raised  from 
its  seat  suflficiently  to  allow  a  stripping  card  to  be  passed 
beneath  it  and  drawn  across  its  face,  removing  the  impurities, 
which  are  retained  in  a  wire  framework;  immediately  after 
the  stripping  is  completed  the  mechanism  lowers  the  flat  to 
its  position.  As  this  one  piece  of  stripping  mechanism  has 
to  clean  each  flat,  it  is  necessary  to  have  it  so  constructed 
that   it  may   be   moved   from   one   flat    to   another;     this   is 


4  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

provided  for,  as  shown  in  Fig-.  1,  by  means  of  a  small  gear, 
which  is  a  part  of  the  stripping  mechanism,  meshing  with 
a  semicircular  rack  arranged  on  the  arch  of  one  side  of 
the  card;  as  this  gear  revolves  the  mechanism  is  moved 
from  flat  to  flat.  This  can  be  arranged  either  to  strip 
the  flats  consecutively,  thus  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth, 
and  so  on,  or  to  strip  them  alternately,  thus  stripping  the  first, 
third,  fifth,  seventh  and  returning  to  strip  the  second,  fourth, 
sixth,  eighth,  etc.;  or  in  the  improved  quick  stripper  it  may 
be  made  variable  in  its  action,  in  order  to  strip  the  flats 
nearest  to  the  feed-rolls  oftener  than  those  nearest  to  the 
doffer.  This  stripper  lifts,  strips,  and  replaces  a  flat  in  less 
than  4  seconds.  The  stationary-top  flat  cards  are  usually 
made  with  all  parts  smaller  than  either  the  revolving-top  flat 
cards  or  the  roller-and-clearer  cards.  The  main  cylinder  is 
not  usually  more  than  42  inches  in  diameter  and  the  dofEer 
not  more  than  18  inches,  while  the  width  of  the  card  is  not 
generally  more  than  37  inches.  The  construction  of  the 
stationary-top  flat  card  made  it  especially  suitable  to  be  used 
in  sections  of  a  number  of  cards  that  delivered  the  slivers  to  a 
traveling  lattice.  The  latter  conveyed  them  to  a  railway 
head,  a  machine  that  combines  all  the  slivers  into  one  sliver 
which  it  deposits  into  a  can  in  suitable  form  for  the  next 
process.  This  method  was,  and  is  still  to  some  extent,  used 
where  double  carding  is  resorted  to;  however,  owing-  to  the 
comparatively  small  amount  of  the  production  for  the  floor 
space  occupied  and  the  difflculty  of  arriving  at  accurate  set- 
tings and  adjustment,  especially  where  wooden  flats  are  used, 
it  is  now  largely  replaced  by  the  revolving-top  flat  card. 

A  modern  construction  of  a  stationary-top  flat  card  occupies 
9  feet  6  inches  by  5  feet  6  inches  with  a  coiler,  and  8  feet 
2  inches  by  5  feet  2  inches  without  a  coiler.  When  making 
a  60-grain  sliver  with  the  doffer  making  10  revolutions  it 
cards  about  60  pounds  per  day;  it  of  course  produces  more 
than  this  on  coarse  work  with  a  heavier  sliver  and  the  doffer 
running  more  quickly,  and  less  for  fine  work  with  a  slower 
doffer  speed  and  lighter  sliver. 


§19  COTTON  CARDS 


ROLL.ER-AND-CLEARER  CARD 
3.  The  I'oller-and-clearer  card,  a  section  of  which  is 
shown  in  Fig.  2,  although  rarely  used  in  America,  is  employed 
to  some  extent  in  certain  parts  of  Europe.  The  machine 
consists  primarily  of  a  cylinder  d,  45  inches  in  diameter, 
which  is  covered  with  fillet  card  clothing  and  rotates  at  a 
surface  velocity  of  about  1,600  feet  per  minute.  Placed  over 
this  cylinder  are  a  number  of  rollers  e  about  6  inches  in 
diameter,  sometimes  known  as  workers,  and  also  a  num- 
ber of  clearers  /  about  3i  inches  in  diameter,  some- 
times called  stri Pliers.  Both  the  workers  and  clearers  are 
covered  with  fillet  card  clothing,  the  former  rotating  at  a 
surface  velocity  of  about  20  feet  per  minute  and  the  latter  at 
a  circumferential  speed  of  about  400  feet  per  minute.  The 
clearers  are  set  in  close  proximity  to  the  cylinder,  and  the 
workers  are  adjusted  both  to  the  cylinder  and  to  the  clearers. 
These  settings  are  obtained  by  means  of  screws  and  setting 
nuts  with  which  the  poppet  heads  g  that  support  the  shafts  of 
the  workers  and  clearers  can  be  adjusted.  The  clearers  are 
driven  from  a  pulley  d^  on  the  cylinder  shaft  by  means  of  a 
belt,  or  band,  d.,  passing  over  pulleys  on  the  clearer  shafts 
and  also  around  a  binder  pulley  //.  The  workers  are  usually 
driven  by  a  pulley  on  the  doffer  shaft  that  drives  a  belt,  band, 
or  in  some  cases  a  chain  passing  around  pulleys  or  sprockets 
on  the  shafts  of  all  the  workers.  The  card  is  equipped  with 
an  S-inch  licker  r,  which  is  covered  with  fillet  and  rotates  at 
a  surface  velocity  of  about  700  feet  per  minute;  a  doffer  j  of 
the  ordinary  construction  is  also  employed. 

In  operation,  a  lap  «,  is  placed  in  stands  at  the  back  of  the 
card  and,  resting  on  a  rotating  wooden  roll  a,  is  fed  to  the 
card  by  means  of  a  fluted  feed-roll  l\  and  a  feed-plate  b.  As 
the  licker  c  rotates  downwards  past  the  feed-plate,  its 
teeth  take  the  cotton  that  is  fed  to  it  and  carry  it  to  the 
cylinder  d.  The  points  of  the  teeth  on  the  cylinder  moving 
rapidly  past  the  backs  of  the  teeth  on  the  licker  results  in 
the  former  taking  the  cotton  from  the  latter  and  conveying 
it  to  the  doffer.     In  its  passage  from  the  licker  to  the  doffer, 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  7 

however,  the  cotton  is  subjected  to  the  action  of  each  of  the 
workers.  The  stock  is  held  loosely  and  projects  somewhat 
from  the  teeth  of  the  cylinder,  which  rapidly  pass  the  workers 
and  operate  point  against  point  with  the  teeth  of  the  latter. 
The  result  of  this  is  that  the  cotton  is  carded  and  opened  out 
and  deposited  on  the  workers,  where  it  remains  until  the 
rotation  of  the  worker  brings  it  under  the  action  of  the 
clearer.  Since  the  teeth  of  the  clearer  work  with  their  points 
against  the  backs  of  the  teeth  on  the  worker,  they  take  the 
cotton  from  the  latter  and  convey  it  back  to  the  main  cylin- 
der, which  by  virtue  of  its  speed  and  the  direction  of  inclina- 
tion of  its  teeth,  strips  the  cotton  from  the  clearer.  The 
expressions  point  against  point  and  point  against  back,  when 
referring  to  the  card  teeth  of  the  various  rolls,  should  not  be 
construed  to  mean  that  the  teeth  of  any  two  rolls  are  in 
actual  contact,  as  these  expressions  refer  only  to  the  rela- 
tive inclination  of  the  card  teeth.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the 
first  eight  workers  are  arranged  in  pairs,  each  pair  being 
stripped  by  a  single  clearer,  but  that  the  last  two  workers  are 
each  stripped  by  a  separate  clearer.  Sometimes  the  entire 
complement  of  workers  and  clearers  are  arranged  as  are  the 
last  two  in  the  illustration.  The  cotton  is  taken  from  the 
cylinder  by  the  doffer  j  in  the  ordinary  manner  and  passed 
to  the  coiler  m  through  the  trumpet  k  and  calender  rolls  /,  /,. 
This  form  of  card  is  apt  to  make  a  considerable  amount  of 
flyings  on  account  of  the  speed  of  the  various  parts,  and  in 
order  to  prevent  these  from  flying  from  the  card  the  latter  is 
enclosed  with  a  wooden  cover  n. 

This  method  of  carding  results  in  the  stock  being  thor- 
oughly opened  and  cleaned,  and  it  is  claimed  that  it  does 
less  damage  to  the  fibers  and  that  a  yarn  5  per  cent,  stronger 
can  be  produced  than  by  the  methods  in  more  common  use 
at  the  present  time.  As  this  card,  however,  requires  more 
help  to  operate  it  and  does  not  produce  as  much  work  as  the 
more  recent  card,  its  use  is  not  considered  profitable. 


COTTON  CARDS  §19 


DOUBLE  CARDING 

4.  Formerly  in  order  to  obtain  a  high-grade  yarn  it  was 
considered  necessary  to  adopt  the  principle  of  double  card- 
ing; viz.,  that  of  carding  cotton  first  on  a  breaker  card  and 
then,  after  having  taken  a  number  of  the  slivers  and  by  means 
of  a  lap  head  formed  them  into  a  lap,  putting  this  lap  through 
a  finisher  card.  Since  the  revolving  flat  card  has  been 
improved  so  greatly  that  it  does  almost  as  good  work  as  was 
done  with  the  old  system  of  double  carding,  and  since  the 
introduction  of  the  comber,  which  produces  work  superior  to 
either  double  carding  or  revolving  flat  card  products,  double 
carding  is  going  out  of  practice. 

5.  Forniatioii  of  the  Lap. — The  cards  employed  in 
double  carding  are  similar  to  those  already  described  and 
need  no  further  mention.  The  formation  of  the  lap  for  the 
second  process  of  carding  may  be  accomplished  in  several 
ways:  (1)  Where  the  breaker  cards  deposit  slivers  in  cans, 
the  lap  is  usually  formed  by  means  of  a  Derby  doubler. 
(2)  Where  the  first  carding  is  arranged  in  sections  of  six, 
eight,  ten,  or  twelve  cards  connected  by  a  railway  trough, 
the  slivers  may  be  passed  through  a  railway  head,  in  which 
they  are  deposited  in  a  can,  and  afterwards  passed  through  a 
lap  head.  (3)  The  slivers  from  the  section  of  a  railway 
trough  may  be  guided  directly  into  a  lap  head  and  the  lap 
formed  in  this  manner. 

The  first  method,  that  of  using  a  Derby  doubler,  is  an 
arrangement  by  which  a  number  of  cans  from  the  breaker 
cards,  varying  from  twenty  to  sixty,  are  placed  behind  a 
long  Y-shaped  table  and  the  sHvers  from  them  passed  through 
rolls,  forming  at  the  front  one  wide  sheet,  which  may  be  any 
width  from  10  to  40  inches.  The  lap  is  wound  on  a  roll  in 
somewhat  the  same  manner  as  a  lap  is  formed  in  the  picker 
room.  This  lap  is  then  placed  on  the  lap  roll  at  the  finisher 
card  and  recarded. 

When  it  is  desired  to  form  a  lap  for  the  finisher  cards 
without  the  intervention  of  the  railway  head  or  can  system 


§19 


COTTON  CARDS 


9 


for  each  card,  the  slivers  from  the  railway  trough  are  guided 
around  rolls  at  such  an  angle  as  to  arrange  for  slivers  from 
two  or  more  lines  of  breaker  cards  to  be  guided  into  a  lap 
head  and  there  wound  into  a  lap  usually  half  the  width 
necessary  to  supply  the  finisher  card. 


CARD  CLOTHING 


CONSTRUCTION 


FOUNDATION 

6.  Card  clothing:  is  the  material  with  which  the  cylin- 
der, doflfer,  and  flats  of  the  card  are  covered  and  by  means  of 
which  the  cotton  is  opened  and  the  fibers  straightened  and 
laid  parallel  to  each  other. 
It  consists  of  wire  teeth 
bent  in  the  form  of  a  staple 
and  inserted  in  a  suitable 
foundation  material.  The 
teeth  in  addition  to  being 
bent  in  the  form  of  a  staple, 
also  have  a  forward  bend, 
or  inclination,  from  a  point 
known  as  the  knee  of  the 
tooth.  Fig.  3  is  an  en- 
larged view  showing  the 
shape  of  a  single  card  tooth 
and  the  method  of  inserting  it  in  the  foundation  y.  The 
knee  of  the  tooth  is  shown  aty^,  while  y^  indicates  the  portion 
of  the  tooth,  known  as  the  crown,  that  is  on  the  back  of  the 
foundation  after  the  tooth  has  been  inserted  in  it;  y,  are  the 
points  of  the  tooth,  each  tooth  of  course  having  two  points. 

7.  Although  the  teeth  of  the  clothing  do  the  actual  card- 
ing, much  depends  on  the  character  of  the  foundation,  since 
if  the  former  are  not  held  with  considerable  firmness  and  yet 
allovv^ed  a  certain  freedom  of  motion,  the  best  results  in  carding 


Fig.  3 


10  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

cannot  be  obtained.  The  foundation  material  must  also  be 
such  that  it  will  not  stretch  after  it  is  applied  to  the  card, 
for  if  the  clothing  becomes  loose  it  will  rise  in  places,  or  as 
is  commonly  said,  will  blister.  When  this  happens  not  only  is 
the  thoroughness  of  the  carding  deteriorated,  but  there  is  also 
great  liability  of  the  clothing  itself  being  damaged  by  coming 
in  contact  with  the  clothing  on  other  parts  of  the  card.  In 
addition,  if  the  clothing  is  slack,  the  teeth  will  not  be  held  up 
to  their  work  properly  but  will  be  forced  backwards  by  the 
strain  in  carding  the  cotton;  this  will  result  in  neutralizing 
to  a  certain  extent  the  effect  of  the  forward  bend  of  the 
tooth,  making  the  clothing  act  more  like  a  brush  and  allow- 
ing the  cotton  to  pass  without  being  properly  carded. 

The  foundation  material  generally  used  is  a  fabric  woven 
from  cotton  and  woolen  yarns,  although  sometimes  cotton 
and  linen  are  employed,  the  linen  being  used  on  account  of 
its  strength  and  freedom  from  stretching.  The  woolen  yarn, 
however,  is  well  adapted  for  this  purpose,  as  it  possesses  a 
certain  elasticity  that,  while  holding  the  tooth  in  place  with 
sufficient  security,  allows  a  certain  freedom  of  movement; 
this  is  very  desirable,  since  if  the  card  teeth  are  held  too 
rigidly,  there  is  some  liability  of  their  becoming  bent  or 
broken.  The  foundation  is  generally  woven  three-  or  four- 
ply,  in  order  to  obtain  the  required  strength  and  the  thick- 
ness that  is  necessary  to  secure  the  teeth.  A  very  good 
foundation  consists  of  a  two-ply  woolen  fabric  inserted 
between  two  cotton  fabrics,  the  latter  imparting  the  requisite 
strength  and  the  former  giving  a  firm  but  elastic  grip  on  the 
teeth.  Sometimes  the  surface  of  the  foundation  is  coated 
with  a  veneer  of  india-rubber,  but  in  this  there  are  disad- 
vantages as  well  as  advantages.  The  rubber  has  a  yielding 
grip  on  the  tooth  that  allows  it  enough  freedom  to  move 
when  the  strain  of  carding  is  on  it,  and  at  the  same  time  it  is 
of  a  tough  nature  so  that  the  movement  of  the  tooth  does 
not  work  a  large  hole  in  the  foundation,  which  would  render 
the  teeth  loosely  secured  so  that  the  full  benefit  of  the 
elasticity  of  the  wire  could  not  be  obtained.  The  india- 
rubber-covered  clothing  is  also  much  easier  to  strip,  but  on 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  11 

the  other  hand  is  not  so  durable  as  clothing  made  with  the 
ordinary  foundation.  The  rubber  deteriorates  with  age, 
becoming  hard  and  stiff  and  cracking  between  the  points 
where  the  teeth  pass  through  it.  This  deterioration  is  much 
more  rapid  if  the  clothing  is  in  a  hot  room  or  subjected  to 
the  direct  rays  of  the  sun,  and  many  times  it  has  been  found 
that  the  foundation  of  rubber  clothing  was  totally  spoiled 
before  the  wire  was  appreciably  worn. 


TEETH 

8.  The  wire  teeth  actually  do  the  carding,  separating 
the  cotton,  fiber  from  fiber,  and  rearranging  it  in  a  homo- 
geneous mass  in  which  the  fibers  lie  more  or  less  parallel; 
they  are  therefore  of  even  more  importance  than  the  founda- 
tion in  which  they  are  inserted.  The  material  from  which 
the  wire  is  made,  the  number  (diameter)  of  the  wire,  the 
angle  at  which  the  wire  passes  through  the  foundation, 
the  angle  at  the  knee  of  the  tooth,  the  relative  height  of  the 
knee  and  point,  and  the  method  of  insertion  in  the  founda- 
tion are  all  important  considerations  when  card  clothing 
is  to  be  purchased  for  general  or  special  uses. 

Clothing  is  set  with  many  different  kinds  of  wire,  such  as 
iron,  brass,  mild  steel,  tempered  steel,  tinned  steel,  etc.,  but 
for  cotton  carding  hardened  and  tempered  steel,  which 
makes  a  springy,  elastic  tooth  that  will  not  easily  be  bent 
out  of  place  or  broken,  is  the  best  material.  Mild-steel  wire 
wears  too  easily,  losing  its  point  and  requiring  frequent 
grinding  to  keep  the  card  in  good  working  condition.  On 
the  other  hand  it  is  easily  ground,  while  tempered  steel, 
although  necessitating  less  frequent  grinding,  is  harder  to 
grind  and  requires  a  longer  time  to  secure  the  required  point, 
since  if  the  grinding  operation  is  forced  the  wire  is  liable  to 
become  heated  and  the  temper  drawn.  The  strength,  elas- 
ticity, and  durability  of  the  tempered  steel,  however,  make 
it  much  more  desirable  than  any  other  material. 

The  wire  generally  employed  is  round  in  section,  but 
various  other  shapes  have  been  used  at  different  times;  one 


12  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

of  these  was  the  elliptical  form  obtained  by  slightly  flatten- 
ing the  round  wire  by  passing  it  through  heavy  rolls.  While 
this  form  gave  great  strength  to  the  tooth,  it  was  objection- 
able because  the  teeth  had  a  tendency  to  work  holes  in  the 
foundation.  After  round  wire  has  been  set  in  the  foundation 
it  is  ground  to  a  point,  and  this  alters  the  form  of  the 
section  of  the  tooth  at  the  point,  or  in  some  cases  as  far 
down  as  the  knee,  although  the  part  of  the  tooth  that  passes 
through  the  foundation  is  always  round  in  section.  There 
are  three  methods  of  grinding  the  clothing,  which  give  to  it 
the  following  names:  (1)  top-ground;  (2)  7ieedle-,  or  side-, 
ground;    (3)  plozv-ground. 

9.  Top-ground  wire  is  obtained  by  an  emery  grinding 
roll  having  a  very  slight  traverse  motion,  so  that  the  point 
of  the  tooth  is  ground  down  only  on  the  top,  producing  what 
is  known  as  a  flat,  or  eliisel,  point. 

In  the  needle-,  or  side-,  ground  \vire  the  thickness  of 
the  tooth  is  reduced  at  the  sides  for  a  short  distance  from  the 
point,  and  the  wire  is  also  ground  down  at  the  top.  This 
form  of  point  is  known  as  the  needle  point  and  is  produced 
by  a  comparatively  narrow  emery  grinding  wheel  that,  in 
addition  to  having  a  rotary  motion,  is  rapidly  traversed  back 
and  forth  across  the  clothing. 

Both  top  and  needle  grinding  are  practiced  in  the  mill,  the 
former  being  accomplished  with  the  so-called  dead-roll  and  the 
latter  with  the  traverse  grinding  roll,  but  plow  grinding 
is  usually  done  by  the  manufacturers  of  the  clothing.  With 
this  method  of  grinding,  the  thickness  of  the  wire  is 
reduced  by  grinding  down  each  side  from  the  point  of  the 
tooth  to  the  knee.  This  is  accomplished  by  means  of  emery 
disks  that  project  into  the  clothing  to  the  knee  of  the 
tooth.  To  aid  in  this  method  of  grinding,  the  teeth  are 
separated  by  means  of  plows,  or  guides,  so  that  the  emery 
disk  will  pass  between  the  wires  and  not  knock  down  the 
teeth,  hence  the  name  plow-ground.  A  plow-ground  tooth 
is  the  best,  since  it  is  not  only  strong,  elastic,  and  easily 
kept  in  good  condition,  but  also  gives  a  wedge-shaped  space 


§19 


COTTON  CARDS 


13 


between  the  teeth,  which  can  more  readily  engage  with  the 
cotton,  and  at  the  same  time  does  not  reduce  the  number  of 
points  per  square  foot.  It  should  be  understood  that  plow 
grinding  alone  does  not  give  the  necessary  keen  point  to  the 
tooth,  as  it  simply  reduces  the  section  of  the  tooth  from  the 
knee  up  by  grinding  the  sides  fiat;  consequently,  after 
the  wire  has  been  plow-ground  it  must  be  either  top-ground 
or  needle-ground,  in  order  to  bevel  the  tooth  and  bring 
it  to  a  point. 

10.  Diameter  of  Wire. — The  diameter  of  the  wire 
varies  according  to  the  class  of  cotton  to  be  carded,  since 
fine  cotton  requires  clothing  with  a  large  number  of  points 
per  square  foot,  while  coarse  work  requires  fewer  points;  and 
in  the  former  case  fine  wire  must  be  used,  while  in  the  latter 
case  wire  of  a  large  diameter  is  more  suitable.  As  will  be 
explained  later,  it  is  customary  to  set  the  clothing  with  a 
certain  number  of  points  per  square  foot  for  a  certain  diam- 
eter of  wire.  There  are  two  gauges  employed  for  number- 
ing wire;  namely,  the  Birmingham,  or  Stubbs,  which  is  the 
English  standard,  and  the  Brown  &  Sharpe,  which  is  the 
American  standard.  The  following  table  shows  the  com- 
parative diameters,  expressed  in  decimal  parts  of  an  inch, 
of.  different  numbers  of  wire  of  each  system: 

TABLE  I 


Birmingham 
Diameter  in  Inches 

Number  of  Wire 

American 
Diameter  in  Inches 

.014 

28 

.012641 

.013 

29 

•01 1257 

.012 

30 

.010025 

,010 

31 

.008928 

.009 

32     ■ 

.007950 

.008 

33 

.007080 

.007 

34 

.006305 

.005 

35 

.005615 

.004 

36 

.005000 

14 


COTTON  CARDS 


§19 


For  an  average  grade  of  cotton,  No.  33  wire  (American 
gauge)  for  the  doffer  and  flats  and  No.  32  for  the  cylinder 
will  give  good  results;  for  coarse  work  the  wire  is  propor- 
tionally increased  in  diameter,  and  for  finer  work  proportion- 
ally decreased.  The  cylinder  should  always  be  covered  with 
wire  one  number  coarser  than  the  doffer  and  fiats,  which 
should  have  wire  of  the  same  diameter. 


11.  In  regard  to  the  shape  of  the  tooth  and  the  angle  at 
which  it  is  inserted  in  the  foundation,  several  important  points 
should  be  noted.  The  knee  of  the  tooth  should  be  located 
about  four-sevenths  of  the  length  of  the  tooth  from  the  crown 
and  three-sevenths  from  the  point.  If  the  knee  is  placed 
higher  the  tooth  will  be  stronger  and  have  a  harsher  action 
on  the  cotton,  while  if  the  knee  is  lower  the  clothing  will  be 
more  flexible  and  have  a  more  brush-like  action.  The  tooth 
should  penetrate  the  foundation  at  an  angle  of  about  75°,  to 
offset  the  bend  at  the  knee,  so  that  the  point  of  the  tooth  will 

not  be  too  far  forwards. 
The  angle  of  insertion  in 
the  foundation  and  the 
bend  of  the  knee  should 
be  such  that  the  point  of 
the  tooth  will  just  touch  or 
very  slightly  pass  a  per- 
pendicular line  drawn 
from  the  point  where  the 
tooth  emerges  from  the  foundation.  Should  the'  forward 
inclination  be  such  that  the  tooth  passes  the  perpendicular  to 
any  great  extent,  the  point  of  the  tooth  will  rise  when  it  is 
moved  back  by  the  strain  of  carding.  This  is  more  clearly 
shown  by  reference  to  Fig.  4.  Suppose  that  the  shape  of  the 
tooth  is  such  that  its  point  is  inclined  forwards  past  the  per- 
pendicular y^,  I's,  as  shown  at  .r^;  then  when  the  strain  comes 
on  the  tooth,  the  point  will  be  moved  back  to  ye,  owing  to  the 
flexibility  of  the  tooth  and  the  freedom  of  motion  allowed  by 
the  foundation.  The  point,  therefore,  in  swinging  through  the 
arc  ^3^6  will  rise  through  the  distance  x,  which  in  the  case  of 


Fig.  4 


§19 


COTTON  CARDS 


15 


a  close  setting  might  be  sufficient  to  make  the  wire  strike  the 
clothing  on  other  parts  of  the  card.  This  action  of  the  tooth 
is  also  aggravated  by  the  tendency  to  straighten  at  the  knee, 
so  that  even  if  no  contact  results,  the  setting  will  be  made 
much  closer  and  many  fibers  will  be  broken.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  the  inclination  of  the  tooth  does  not  carry  its  point 
past  the  perpendicular,  the  tendency  of  the  tooth  in  moving 
backwards  under  the  strain  of  carding  will  be  to  depress  the 
point,  making  the  setting  more  open  and  reducing  the  strain. 


Four  Crowns  Per  Inch 


Fig.  5 


CALCULATIONS 

12.  Card  clothing  for  cotton  cards  is  made  in  long  con- 
tinuous strips  1,  li.  li,  II,  and  2  inches  in  width  known  as 
fillet,  or  filleting,  and  in  narrow  sheets  known  as  tops;  the 
former  is  used  for  covering  the  cylinder  and  doffer,  while  the 
latter  is  used  for  the  flats.  Fillet  clothing  is  made  in  what  is 
known  as  rib  set;    that   is,  with   the  crowns  of  the   teeth. 


16  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

which  are  on  the  back  of  the  clothing,  running  in  ribs,  or  rows, 
lengthwise  of  the  fillet.  Fig.  5  shows  the  appearance  of  the 
back  of  a  piece  of  li-inch  rib-set  fillet,  the  horizontal  lines 
indicating  the  crowns  of  the  teeth  and  showing  the  method 
in  which  they  are  inserted.  The  teeth  are  set  into  tops  so 
that  the  crowns  of  the  teeth  on  the  back  side  of  the  founda- 
tion are  twilled;  that  is,  they  are  set  in  diagonal  lines  like 
a  piece  of  twilled  cloth.  Fig.  6  shows  the  appearance  of  the 
back  of  a  top,  the  horizontal  lines  showing  the  method  of 
twilling  the  crowns. 


Four  Crowns  Per  Inr.'' 

Fig.  6 

All  card  clothing  in  America,  unless  especially  ordered,  is 
made  with  4  crowns  in  1  inch  on  the  back  of  the  clothing,  or 
8  points  in  1  inch  on  the  face,  and  is  known  as  8-crown  cloth- 
ing. From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  a  2-inch  fillet  will  have 
8  ribs  on  the  back  and  a  li-inch  fillet,  6  ribs,  etc.  It  should 
be  noted  that  the  actual  width  of  the  foundation  of  fillet 
clothing  is  about  -?w  inch  greater  than  the  width  of  the  wire- 
covered  space;  thus,  a  2-inch  fillet  is  actually  2tV  inches  in 
width.  Sometimes  in  special  cases  where  a  large  number 
of  points  per  square  foot  are  desired,  the  clothing  is  made 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  17 

10-crown;  that  is,  with  10  points  per  inch  in  width  on  the 
face  of  the  clothing,  or  5  crowns  per  inch  on  the  back  of 
the  clothing. 

The  term  iiogg,  which  is  used  in  connection  with  card 
clothing,  refers  to  the  distance  between  the  first  tooth  of  one 
line  of  twill  and  the  next  line.  It  will  be  noticed  in  Fig.  6 
that  there  are  6  teeth  to  a  nogg  and  8  noggs  per  inch,  while 
in  Fig.  5  there  are  half  as  many  teeth  per  nogg  and  16  noggs 
per  inch.  Owing  to  the  manner  in  which  the  teeth  are  set  in 
fillet  clothing,  there  are  always  one-half  the  number  of  teeth 
per  nogg  and  twice  the  number  of  noggs  per  inch  as  in  cloth- 
ing for  tops  with  the  same  number  of  points  per  square  foot. 
The  number  of  noggs  per  inch  always  governs  the  number 
of  points  per  square  foot  in  the  clothing.  If  more  points  per 
square  foot  are  wanted,  the  noggs  per  inch  are  increased, 
while  if  fewer  points  are  wanted,  the  noggs  per  inch  are 
decreased,  the  crowns  always  remaining  the  same. 

13.     To  find  the  points  per  square  foot  in  card  clothing: 

Rule. — Muliiply  the  crowns  per  hich  by  the  points  per  tooth 
(2),  by  the  teeth  per  nogg,  by  the  noggs  per  inch,  aiid  by  the 
number  of  square  inches  in  a  square  foot  (144). 

Example  1.  — Find  the  points  per  square  foot  in  the  sample  of  card 
clothing  shown  in  Fig.  5,  the  crowns  per  inch  being  4,  the  teeth  per 
nogg  3,  and  the  noggs  per  inch  16. 

Solution.—  4  crowns  per  in. 

2  points  per  tooth 
8  points  per  in. 

3  teeth  per  nogg 
24 

1  6  noggs  per  in. 

24 

3  8  4  points  per  sq.  in. 
1  4  4  in.  per  sq.  ft. 


153  6 
1536 
3^4 

5  5  2  9  6  points  per  sq.  ft.     Ans. 


18  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

Dividing  the  points  per  square  foot  by  the  noggs  per  inch, 
thus,  55,296  -=-  16  =  3,456,  it  will  be  noticed  that  with  8-crown 
fillet  (4  crowns  per  inch)  each  nogg  increases  the  points  per 
square  foot  by  3,456.  From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  in  order 
to  find  the  points  per  square  foot  in  8-crown  fillet  clothing, 
it  is  only  necessary  to  multiply  the  noggs  per  inch  by  3,456. 

Example  2. — Find  the  points  per  square  foot  in  the  sample  of  card 
clothing  shown  in  Fig.  6,  the  crowns  per  inch  being  4,  teeth  per 
nogg  6,  noggs  per  inch  8. 

J    Solution. —  4  crowns  per  in. 

2  points  per  tooth 
8  points  per  in. 
6  teeth  per  nogg 

4  8 
8  noggs  per  in. 
3  8  4  points  per  sq.  in. 
144 


153  6 
1536 
384 

5  5  2  9  6  points  per  sq.  ft.     Ans. 

Dividing  the  points  per  square  foot  by  the  noggs  per  inch, 
thus,  55,296  ^  8  =  6,912,  it  will  be  noticed  that  with  8-crown 
twill-set  clothing  each  nogg  increases  the  points  per  square 
foot  by  6,912.  From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  in  order  to 
find  the  points  per  square  foot  in  twill-set  clothing  it  is  only 
necessary  to  multiply  the  noggs  per  inch  by  6,912. 

In  Table  II  is  given  the  number  of  points  per  square 
foot  of  8-crown,  rib-set  fillet  (4  crowns  per  inch)  with  3  teeth 
per  nogg  and  with  from  10  to  27  noggs  per  inch,  and  also 
shows  the  numbers  of  wire  (American  gauge)  generally  used 
in  each  case. 

In  Table  III  is  given  the  number  of  points  per  square 
foot  of  8-crown,  twill-set  clothing  with  6  teeth  per  nogg  and 
with  from  5  to  13  noggs  per  inch  and  also  shows  the  numbers 
of  wire  (American  gauge)  generally  used  in  each  case. 

For  an  average  grade  of  cotton  the  doffer  should  have 
20  or  21  noggs  per  inch  and  the  flats  10  or  lOl^  noggs  per 


19 


COTTON  CARDS 
TABLE  II 


19 


Noggs  per  Inch 

Points  per  Square 
Foot 

American  Number 
of  Wire 

10 

34,560 

28 

1 1 

38,016 

28 

12 

41,472 

29 

13 

44,928 

29 

M 

48,384 

30 

15 

51,840 

30 

i6 

55,296 

31 

17 

58,752 

31 

i8 

62,208 

32 

19 

65,664 

32 

20 

69,120 

33 

21 

72,576 

33 

22 

76,032 

34 

23 

79,488 

34 

24 

82,944 

35 

25 
26 

86,400 
89,856 

35 
36 

27 

93,312 

36 

TABLE     III 

^ 

Noggs  per  Inch 

Points  per  Square 
Foot 

American  Number 
of  Wire 

5 

34,560 

28 

6 

41,472 

29 

7 

48,384 

30 

8 

55,296 

31 

9 

62,208 

32 

lO 

n 

12 

69,120 
76,032 
82,944 

33 

34 
35 

13 

89,856 

36 

20 


COTTON  CARDS 


§19 


inch,  which  in  each  case  would  give  69,120  or  72,576  points 
per  square  foot.  For  the  main  cyUnder  18  or  19  noggs  per 
inch  are  suitable,  which  would  give  62,208  or  65,664  points 
per  square  foot.  The  number  of  points  may  of  course  be 
varied  to  suit  the  class  of  work,  but  it  is  generally  desirable 
to  have  the  same  number  of  points  in  the  dolifer  and  flats, 


Fig.  7 


while  the  main  cylinder  should  have  a  slightly  smaller  num- 
ber than  either. 

14.     English  Method  of  Nmiibering  Card  Clothing:. 

English  card  clothing  was  formerly  made  with  the  teeth 
inserted  according  to  a  method  known  as  the  plain-,  or 
open-,  set,  in  which  the  crowns,  or  backs,  of  the  teeth  over- 
lapped each  other  exactly  as  bricks  in  a  wall,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  7.     The  teeth  were  inserted  in  sheets  4  inches  in  width, 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  21 

and  the  clothing-  was  made  with  5  crowns  on  the  back,  or 
10  points  on  the  face,  in  1  inch  lengthwise  of  the  sheet,  or 
crosswise  of  the  card  after  the  sheet  had  been  applied  to  the 
same;  that  is,  it  was  10-crown  clothing.  Plain-set  clothing 
is  not  often  used  in  America,  and  although  rarely  used  in 
England  today,  it  forms  the  basis  of  the  whole  English 
system  of  numbering  clothing.  The  English  system  desig- 
nates card  clothing  by  the  counts,  a  term  that  indicates 
the  number  of  points  per  square  foot  on  the  face  of  the 
clothing  absolutely,  but  which  gives  no  clue  to  the  method 
of  inserting  the  teeth,  whether  plain-,  rib-,  or  twill-set;  that  is, 
lOOs-count  card  clothing  indicates  a  definite  number  of  points 
per  square  foot  and  nothing  else. 

As  stated,  the  English  system  of  numbering  card  clothing 
is  based  on  the  10-crown,  plain-set  clothing,  the  term  counts 
indicating  the  number  of  noggs  in  4  inches,  which  was  the 
original  width  of  the  sheets.  Thus,  if  a  sheet  of  plain-set, 
10-crown  clothing  had  60  noggs  in  its  width,  it  was  60s-count, 
or  if  it  had  100  noggs  in  the  width  of  the  sheet,  it  was 
lOOs-count  clothing,  etc.  As  plain-set  clothing  was  invari- 
ably made  on  the  10-crown  basis,  the  number  of  noggs 
in  the  width  of  the  sheet,  or  the  counts,  always  indicated  a 
definite  number  of  points  per  square  foot.  For  example,  in 
lOOs-count  clothing,  as  there  are  100  noggs  in  4  inches,  then 
in  12  inches,  or  1  foot,  there  are  300  noggs,  and  as  in 
plain-set  clothing  there  are  2  teeth  per  nogg,  there  are 
300  X  2  =  600  points  crosswise  of  the  sheets.  Since 
10-crown  clothing  has  10  points  per  inch,  there  are 
10  X  12  =  120  points  in  1  foot  lengthwise  of  the  sheet, 
which  multiplied  by  600  points  per  foot  crosswise  of  the 
sheet  equals  72,000  points  per  square  foot.  From  this  it 
will  be  seen  that  as  lOOs-count  clothing  contains  72,000 
points  per  square  foot,  each  count  increases  the  points  per 
square  foot  72,000  -^  100  =  720  points.  Therefore,  to  find 
the  points  per  square  foot  in  card  clothing  of  any  counts,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  multiply  the  counts  by  720;  and  inversely, 
to  find  the  counts  of  any  card  clothing,  divide  the  points 
per  square  foot  by  720. 


22 


COTTON  CARDS 


§19 


Although  plain-set,  10-crown  clothing  has  been  largely- 
superseded  in  both  England  and  America  by  8-crown,  twilled- 
set  clothing  for  the  flats  and  8-crown,  rib-set  clothing  for  the 
cylinder  and  doffer,  the  English  system  of  numbering  cloth- 
ing is  still  based  on  the  plain-set  clothing,  in  which  each 
count  is  equal  to  720  points  per  square  foot.  Table  IV 
shows  the  points  per  square  foot  in  card  clothing  of  various 
counts  and  also  the  number  of  wire  (American  gauge)  that 
is  usually  used. 

TABLE     IV 


English  Counts 

Points  per  Square 
Foot 

American  Number 
of  Wire 

60s 

43,200 

28 

70s 

50,400 

30 

80s 

57,600 

31 

90s 

64,800 

32 

IOCS 

72,000 

33 

lies 

79,200 

34 

I20S 

86,400 

35 

130s 

93,600 

36 

METHOD  OF  CEOTHING   CARDS 


CLOTHING    FLATS 

15.  The  clothing  for  the  flats  is  made  in  sheets  with  a 
1-inch  space  between  the  sections  of  wire;  these  are  after- 
wards cut  up  to  form  the  tops.  Formerly  one  of  the  most 
difRcult  probleins  for  cotton-card  builders  and  manufacturers 
of  card  clothing  was  to  attach  satisfactorily  the  top  to  the 
flat.  The  first  method  employed  was  to  drill  holes  in  each 
edge  of  the  flat  and  secure  the  clothing  by  rivets.  This 
method,  while  it  held  the  clothing  securely,  had  a  tendency 
to  weaken  the  flats,  causing  them  to  deflect;  and  in  addition, 
the  cotton  occasionally  caught  on  the  rivets  until  a  bunch 
was  formed,  which  would  pass  into  the  card  again  and  form 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  23 

a  nep  in  the  web.     Another  method  was  to  sew  the  top  to 
the  flat,  but  this  was  not  entirely  satisfactory. 

The  present  method  is  to  employ  a  steel  clamp  of  the 
same  length  as  the  clothing  and  bent  in  a  U-shape.  One 
edge  of  this  clamp  in  some  cases  is  serrated,  so  as  to  grip 
the  foundation,  while  the  other  edge  engages  the  edge  of 
the  flat,  holding  the  clothing  and  flat  securely  together.  The 
foundation  of  the  card  clothing  is  pulled  toward  the  edges  of 
the  flat  and  clamps  applied  simultaneously  to  both  edges, 
so  that  the  clothing  is  fastened  while  under  tension.  After- 
wards end  pieces  are  usually  fastened  on  in  order  to  make 
the  clothing  absolutely  secure.  The  flats  should  be  ground 
after  the  clothing  is  applied,  so  as  to  make  them  perfectly  true. 


CLOTHING  CYLINDER  AND  DOFFER 

16.  Both  the  cylinder  and  doffer,  which  are  covered  with 
filleting,  have  parallel  rows  of  holes  drilled  across  them, 
which  are  plugged  with  hardwood.  The  fillet  is  wound 
spirally  and  secured  by  means  of  tacks  driven  in  the  hard- 
wood plugs.  Cylinders  are  usually  covered  with  2-inch,  and 
doffers  with  li-inch,  filleting.  Formerly  it  was  customary  to 
give  the  surface  of  the  cylinder  a  thin  coat  of  paint  or  cover 
it  with  calico  before  applying  the  clothing,  buf  the  present 
practice  is  to  wind  the  fillet  on  the  bare  cylinder.  The  plugs 
should  be  flush  with  the  surface  of  the  cylinder,  which  should 
be  smooth,  free  from  rust,  and  perfectly  dry  before  the  cloth- 
ing is  applied.  Since  the  fillet  is  wound  spirally,  it  must  be 
tapered  at  each  end  of  the  cylinder  or  doflfer,  so  that  it  will 
not  overlap. 

17.  There  are  several  methods  of  shaping  the  tail-ends, 
as  they  are  called,  but  the  best  is  that  known  as  the  inside 
taper,  since  it  is  stronger  and  neater  than  any  other. 
Fig.  8  (rt)  shows  the  method  of  cutting  the  fillet  for  an 
inside  taper.  Three  lengths  ;*:,  ;c,,  x.,  each  equal  to  one-half 
the  circumference  of  the  cylinder  or  dofTer,  as  the  case  may 
be,  are  first  miarked  out  on  the  end  of  the  fillet;  in  the  case 
of    a    50-inch    cylinder    these    distances    x,  x,,  x^  would    be 


24 


COTTON  CARDS 


§19 


'j~m'\ 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  25 

6.545  feet  each.  For  the  first  distance  x,  the  fillet  is  cut 
exactly  through  the  middle;  for  the  second  distance  ,v,,  it 
is  tapered  from  half  the  width  of  the  fillet  to  the  full  width; 
for  the  distance  .v,,  a  cut  is  made  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
fillet  exactly  half  way  through  it  and  the  fillet  tapered  out  to 
its  full  width  again.  The  dotted  lines  in  Fig.  8  (a)  indicate 
the  original  width  and  shape  of  the  fillet,  while  the  full  lines 
show  the  shape  of  the  tail-end  when  cut.  Fig.  8  (d)  shows 
the  method  of  winding  the  fillet  on  the  cylinder  and  the  way 
the  tail-ends  are  fastened.  After  one  tail-end  is  cut,  the  end 
of  the  fillet  is  tacked  to  the  plugs  in  the  cylinder  and  the  fillet 
wound  around  the  cylinder  spirally,  as  shown  in  Fig.  8  (b) 
and  (c);  the  other  tail-end  is  then  cut  and  fastened  to  the 
cylinder  in  the  same  manner  as  the  first  tail-end.  Care 
should  be  taken  in  cutting  each  tail-end  to  have  the  straight, 
or  uncut,  edge  of  the  fillet  x,  x,  coincide  with  the  edge  of  the 
cylinder.  Fig.  8  {c)  shows  the  opposite  side  of  the  cylinder 
shown  in  Fig.  8  (<^). 

18.  To  find  the  length  of  filleting  to  cover  a  cylinder, 
doffer,  or  other  roll: 

Rule. — Mtdtiply  the  diameter  of  the  roll  by  its  width  {both 
expressed  i?i  inches)  ayid  by  3.1416  and  divide  the  product  thus 
obtained  by  the  width  of  the  fillet  midtiplied  by  12.  The  result 
thtis  obtaijied  will  be  the  required  munber  of  feet  of  filleting. 

Note. — An  allowance  must  be  made  for  tapering  the  tail-ends,  g:en- 
erally  a  length  equal  to  the  circumference  of  the  roll  being  sufficient. 

ExAMPLK. — What  length  of  2-inch  filleting  is  required  to  clothe  a 
cylinder  50  inches  in  diameter  and  40  inches  wide? 

„                          50  X  40  X  3.1416        _,  ^  ^^ 
Solution. —    ^^ =  261.8  ft. 

Adding  a  length  equal  to  the  circumference  of  the  cylinder,  which 
is  13.09  ft.,  the  length  required  will  be  274.89  ft.     Ans. 

19.  Filler-Winding  Macliine. — Before  applying  the 
fillet,  it  should  remain  for  several  days  in  the  room  in  which 
it  is  to  be  used;  otherwise,  it  will  have  a  tendency  to  expand 
after  being  fixed  on  the  cylinder,  which  causes  it  to  rise  in 


26 


COTTON  CARDS 


19 


places.  The  fillet  is  applied  to  cylinders  or  doffers  by  means 
of  special  winding  machines;  formerly  it  was  wound  by  hand. 
Fig.  9  shows  a  good  type  of  fillet-winding  machine,  which 
consists  primarily  of  a  carriage  a  that  slides  on  a  bed  b. 
Sufficient  motion  is  imparted  to  the  carriage,  by  means  of  a 
rotating  screw  c  that  engages  with  a  gear  r,  on  a  shaft,  to 
guide  the  spirals  of  fillet  close  to  each  other.  The  gear  r, 
is  prevented  from  turning,  after  the  position  of  the  machine 


Fig.  9 

is  once  adjusted  with  the  crank  c^,  by  a  lever  r,,  which 
operates  a  screw  that  secures  its  shaft.  The  fillet  when  being 
wound  is  usually  placed  in  a  basket,  or  other  receptacle,  from 
which  the  end  is  taken  and  passed  through  the  trough  d  to 
what  is  known  as  the  cone  drum  e,  around  which  it  is  wrapped 
three  times.  The  fillet  emerges  over  the  roll  /  and  is  guided 
on  the  cjilinder  to  be  clothed  by  the  rod  g.  The  fillet  must 
always  be  passed  through  the  trough  d  so  that  the  teeth  will 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  27 

point  in  the  opposite  direction  to  its  motion;  otherwise,  they 
will  be  injured. 

The  tension  is  obtained  in  the  following  manner:  The 
drum  e,  which  revolves  as  the  fillet  passes  over  it,  is  made 
in  three  sections — the  first  6^  inches,  the  second  7  inches, 
and  the  third  1\  inches  in  diameter.  The  section  with  the 
largest  diameter  is  covered  with  leather,  so  that  this  portion 
of  the  drum  and  the  fillet  revolve  together;  and  as  it  requires 
a  greater  length  of  fillet  to  cover  this  surface  than  it  does  to 
cover  either  of  the  smaller  sections,  the  fillet  is  drawn  over 
these  at  a  speed  greater  than  that  of  their  surfaces,  which 
will  have  the  same  effect  as  if  the  smaller  sections  were 
working  in  a  direction  opposite  to  that  of  the  larger  section. 
The  friction  between  the  fillet  and  the  drum  produces  the 
tension  on  the  former,  the  amount  of  which  may  be  regulated 
by  the  brake  //  on  the  drum  shaft  and  also  by  a  thumbscrew/ 
that  presses  the  die  k  down  on  the  fillet,  which  is  drawn  over 
a  spring  cushion  in  the  trough  d.  About  200  pounds  ten- 
sion may  be  obtained  by  means  of  the  brake  h  alone,  the 
rest  being  obtained  by  means  of  the  thumbscrew  j.  For 
main  cylinders  wound  with  2-inch  fillet,  a  tension  of  270  to 
300  pounds  is  about  right;  narrower  fillet  requires  less  ten- 
sion. Dofifers  may  have  fillet  applied  with  about  175  pounds 
tension.  The  amount  of  tension  with  which  the  fillet  is  being 
wound  in  this  machine  is  indicated  by  a  finger  /  on  the  dial  f^. 
This  is  accomplished  by  arranging  the  roll  /  to  press  against 
a  strong  coil  spring  Z^,  connection  being  made  with  a  rack  A 
and  pinion  A,  so  that  the  motion  of  the  roll  when  acted  on 
by  the  tension  of  the  fillet  is  communicated  to  the  finger  and 
indicated  on  the  dial. 

In  using  this  machine,  it  is  essential  that  for  each  revolu- 
tion of  the  cylinder  being  covered  the  carriage  shall  move 
along  the  bed  a  distance  corresponding  to  the  width  of  the 
fillet.  This  is  accomplished  by  gearing  the  screw  that 
imparts  the  traverse  motion  to  the  carriage  from  the  cyl- 
inder being  covered,  the  train  of  gears  being  so  arranged 
that  one  tooth  of  the  change  gear  moves  the  carriage  isV  inch 
to  each  revolution  of  the  cylinder  being  covered.     From  this 


28  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

it  will  be  seen  that  1^-inch  fillet  will  require  a  48-tooth  gear 
and  2-inch  fillet  a  64-tooth  gear.  In  actual  practice,  however, 
a  49-tooth  gear  is  used  for  H-inch  and  a  66-tooth  gear  for 
2-inch  fillet,  since  the  fillet  is  wider  than  the  nominal  width 
and  measures  I32  inches  and  2tV  inches,  respectively.  A 
crank  arrangement  is  usually  applied  to  the  cylinder  and 
dofiEer  so  that  they  can  be  turned  by  hand  while  the  clothing 
is  being  applied. 

After  cylinders  are  covered  with  fillet  they  should  be 
allowed  to  stand  for  8  or  4  hours  in  order  that  the  fillet  may 
become  adjusted,  when  it  should  be  tacked  crosswise  of  the 
cylinder. 


COTTON  CARDS 

(PART  3) 


CARE  OF  CARDS 


INTRODUCTION 

1.  The  method  of  managing  a  card  room  very  materially 
affects  the  quality  of  the  product  of  a  cotton  mill,  as  in  order 
to  insure  satisfactory  results  it  is  very  essential  that  the  card- 
ing process  shall  have  careful  attention.  Care  should  espe- 
cially be  given  to  several  important  operations  that  must  be 
performed  at  intervals. 

Those  parts  of  the  card  that  are  clothed — the  flats,  the 
cylinder,  and  the  doffer — are  constantly  collecting  waste  from 
the  cotton  that  is  being  operated  on.  This  waste,  consisting 
of  short  fiber  and  foreign  matter  that  fills  up  the  interstices 
of  the  card  wire  and  prevents  the  card  from  doing  its  best 
work,  must  be  removed  at  intervals  from  the  clothing,  the 
process  being  known  z.s  stripphig.  Fig.  1  is  a  view  of  a  card 
showing  arrangements  applied  for  stripping  the  doffer  and 
fiats. 

As  the  points  of  the  card  wire  become  dull,  on  account  of 
the  constant  friction,  and  consequently  do  not  card  the  cotton 
as  satisfactorily  as  when  sharp,  they  must  be  sharpened  by 
means  of  emery  rolls;  this  is  accomplished  by  the  process 
known  as  grinding.  A  view  of  a  card,  w'ith  arrangements 
applied  for  grinding  the  doffer  and  cylinder,  is  shown  in 
Fig.  2. 

When  two  wire  surfaces  are  presented  to  each  other,  there 

For  notice  of  copyright,  see  page  immediately  following  the  title  page 


30 


COTTON  CARDS 


§19 


19 


COTTON  CARDS 


31 


32  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

is  sometimes  too  much  space  between  them,  caused  by  parts 
of  the  card  moving  slightly  out  of  position  or  by  the  shorten- 
ing of  the  wire  by  the  grinding  process.  The  operation  of 
regulating  the  distance  between  the  two  wire  surfaces  is 
known  as  setting. 

In  common  with  all  machinery,  the  oiling  of  the  parts 
must  be  periodically  attended  to,  as  well  as  the  cleaning  of 
the  machine  and  the  removal  of  fly  from  below^  the  card. 
Very  little  more  attention  is  necessary  in  connection  with 
carding  cotton  with  the  revolving-top  flat  card  other  than 
keeping  the  machine  supplied  with  laps  and  removing  the 
cans  when  full. 

STRIPPING 

2.  Methods  of  Stripping. — Various  methods  of  strip- 
ping cards  have  been  adopted.  One  of  the  earliest  methods 
used  in  cotton  carding,  and  one  that  is  now  in  use  in  connec- 
tion with  w^oolen  carding,  was  by  means  of  a  flat  board  from 
4  to  6  inches  wide  and  as  long  as  half  the  width  of  the  card, 
on  the  upper  part  of  which  a  handle  was  attached,  while  a 
piece  of  card  clothing  was  nailed  on  the  lower  part  with  the 

safe' 


Fig.  3 


points  projecting  toward  the  operator.  The  cylinder  was 
slowly  turned  by  hand,  after  it  had  been  partly  uncovered 
at  the  front,  and  the  stripping  card  pressed  into  the  wire  of 
the  cylinder  and  alternately  pushed  backwards  and  drawn 
forwards,  the  latter  movement  removing  the  waste  from  the 
cylinder.  A  similar  operation  cleaned  the  waste  from 
the  doffer. 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  33 

A  much  better  method  of  stripping  the  card  and  the  one 
now  commonly  adopted  is  by  means  of  a  stripping  roll,  such 
as  is  shown  in  Fig.  8.  This  roll  consists  of  a  wooden  cylin- 
der mounted  on  an  iron  shaft  and  having  wire  clothing  wound 
around  it  so  as  entirely  to  cover  its  surface,  although  on 
some  rolls  a  narrow  space  without  teeth  is  left  from  one  end 
to  the  other.  The  clothing  used  for  the  stripping  roll  carries 
a  very  much  longer  tooth  than  that  used  to  cover  the  cylinder 
or  doflPer,  and  the  wire  teeth  are  not  set  so  closely  together. 

3.  Frequency  of  Strii^ping. — The  number  of  times 
that  a  card  should  be  stripped  within  a  stated  period  will  be 
found  to  vary,  but  it  may  be  said  to  depend  on  two  factors. 
One  is  that  the  greater  the  weight  of  cotton  that  is  put 
through  the  card  per  day,  the  more  frequently  it  should  be 
stripped;  the  other  is  that  in  fine  work  the  clothing  should 
be  kept  as  free  as  possible  from  short  fiber  and  particles  of 
foreign  matter,  so  that  when  running  fine  work  the  card  should 
receive  more  frequent  stripping,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  a  lighter  weight  of  cotton  is  being  put  through  the  card 
than  in  coarse  work.  It  may  be  stated  as  a  common  practice 
that  for  fine  work  the  card  should  be  stripped  three  times  a 
day  unless  a  very  large  production  is  being  obtained,  when 
it  is  advisable  to  strip  four  or  even  five  times  per  day,  while 
with  a  medium  production  and  where  a  very  high  grade  of 
work  is  not  called  for,  it  is  not  necessary  to  strip  the  cylinder 
and  dof?er  more  than  twice  a  day. 

To  stop  a  card  for  stripping  purposes  necessarily  means  a 
reduction  in  the  amount  of  product,  but  by  carefully  planning 
so  that  the  card  will  not  be  stopped  any  longer  than  neces- 
sary before  it  is  stripped,  and  by  getting  it  in  operation 
again  immediately  after  stripping,  the  loss  can  be  reduced 
to  a  very  small  amount.  In  stripping  cards  two  men  are 
usually  employed,  since  one  cannot  readily  handle  the  long 
stripping  roll;  and  time  can  also  be  saved  by  having  one 
man  preparing  the  next  card  for  stripping  while  the  other 
man  is  performing  the  operation  of  restarting  the  card  pre- 
viously   stripped    and    removing    the    strippings    from    the 


34  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

stripping  roll.  Since  it  is  the  usual  practice  to  strip  the 
cylinder  before  stripping  the  dofifer,  time  may  also  be  saved 
by  starting  the  feed  while  the  dofiEer  is  being  stripped.  In 
this  manner  the  cylinder  will  be  filled  and  the  sliver  will  be 
ready  to  be  pieced  up  as  soon  as  the  stripping  action  is 
completed.  In  order  to  economize  in  the  amount  of  strip- 
pings  removed  from  the  card,  the  feed-roll  and  calender 
rolls  should  be  stopped  a  short  time  before  the  card  is 
stopped,  thus  allowing  the  good  cotton  to  run  through  the 
card  and  drop  on  the  floor  in  front  of  the  doffer;  it  is  then 
removed  and  returned  to  the  mixing  room. 

4.  Operation  of  Stripping. — The  operation  of  stripping 
is  as  follows:  The  card  is  first  stopped  by  shipping  the 
driving  belt  from  the  tight  to  the  loose  pulley.  The  feed- 
roll  should  have  been  previously  stopped  by  disengaging  the 
side  shaft  Wi,,  Fig.  2,  at  the  dofifer,  and  the  gear  ;;;,3,  Fig.  1, 
should  also  have  previously  been  thrown  out  of  gear  by 
means  of  the  handle,  thus  stopping  the  calender  rolls  and 
coiler  and  allowing  the  good  cotton  to  run  through  the  card 
until  exhausted,  as  previously  stated.  As  the  cylinder  is  the 
first  to  be  stripped,  the  cover,  or  door  e^,  that  protects  the 
cylinder  at  the  front  and  is  hinged  on  the  arms  r,o,  is  lowered 
so  as  to  leave  the  cylinder  bare  at  that  point.  The  stripping 
roll  is  now  placed  in  the  upper  set  of  bearings  7\  and  a  band 
run  from  the  outer  groove  of  the  loose  pulley  of  the  card  to 
the  grooved  pulley  on  the  end  of  the  stripping  roll.  This 
band  should  be  crossed  in  order  to  give  the  correct  direction 
of  motion  to  the  stripping  roll.  With  the  stripping  roll  in 
this  position  its  teeth  should  project  a  slight  distance  into 
the  wire  of  the  cylinder,  usually  about  i  inch,  and  should 
point  in  the  direction  of  revolution  of  the  roll.  At  the 
point  where  the  roll  is  in  contact  with  the  cylinder,  the  teeth 
of  both  are  pointing  in  the  same  direction  and  the  surface 
speed  of  the  roll  is  greater  than  that  of  the  cylinder,  thus 
making  the  stripping  possible.  The  driving  belt  of  the 
card  is  now  moved  suflficiently  on  to  the  tight  pulley 
to    turn    the    cylinder  slightly   and  at  the  same  time  leave 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  35 

enough  of  the  belt  on  the  loose  pulley  to  give  the  necessary 
power  to  drive  the  stripping  roll. 

It  is  advisable  for  the  operator  to  be  able  to  control  the 
speed  of  the  stripping  roll  at  all  times  and  to  stop  it  sud- 
denly if  necessary.  On  this  account  the  band  that  runs  from 
the  loose  pulley  to  the  stripping  roll  is  not  usually  tight,  the 
stripper  creating  sufficient  tension  to  drive  the  stripping  roll 
by  pressing  his  hand  on  the  band.  By  this  means  the  wire 
teeth  on  the  rapidly  revolving  stripping  roll  remove  the 
waste  from  the  spaces  between  the  teeth  of  the  card  wire 
on  the  cylinder,  thi's  waste  adhering  to  the  surface  of  the 
stripping  roll.  In  performing  this  operation,  care  should  be 
taken  that  the  cylinder  does  not  attain  a  greater  surface 
speed  than  the  roll,  since  in  this  case  the  excess  surface 
speed  of  the  cylinder  will  cause  the  waste  to  be  taken  from 
the  roll  by  the  cylinder. 

After  the  cylinder  has  made  one  complete  revolution,  the 
band  that  drives  the  stripping  roll  is  removed  and  the  strip- 
ping roll  taken  from  the  stands  j\  and  cleaned  and  then  placed 
in  lower  stands  at  the  doffer,  as  shown  in  Fig.  1.  A  band 
somewhat  longer  than  the  one  previously  used  is  then  run  from 
the  loose  pulley  of  the  card  to  the  grooved  pulley  on  the 
stripping  roll  r.  This  band  is  also  crossed,  and  the  operation 
of  stripping  the  doffer  is  performed  in  the  same  way  as  that 
of  stripping  the  cylinder.  It  is  the  practice  in  some  mills, 
especially  those  making  coarse  counts,  to  run  the  card 
while  stripping  the  doffer.  This,  however,  is  not  good 
practice,  since  the  stripping  roll  throws  out  considerable 
dirt,  a  good  part  of  which  is  liable  to  drop  into  the  web  and 
be  carried  through  into  the  finished  sliver. 

5.  Cleaning  the  Stripping  Roll. — After  stripping  the 
cylinder  of  each  card,  and  also  the  doffer,  the  strippings 
retained  by  the  stripping  roll  should  be  removed  from  the 
stripping  roll.  These  strippings  may  be  removed  by  a  hand 
card  or  by  placing  a  finger  in  the  narrow  space  that  is 
without  wire  teeth,  when  one  is  left  in  the  stripping  roll, 
breaking  the  circular  web  at  this  point,  and  unrolling  it  from 


86  COTTON   CARDS  §19 

the  roll.  Another  method  of  removing  the  strippings  from 
the  stripping  roll  and  one  that  is  used  in  a  large  number  of 
mills  is  to  employ  a  box  that  is  placed  on  wheels.  This  box 
is  usiially  about  18  inches  wide,  3  feet  deep,  and  long  enough 
to  allow  the  clothed  part  of  the  stripping  roll  to  rest  between 
its  ends,  while  the  ends  of  the  shaft  rest  in  V-shaped  grooves 
in  the  ends  of  the  box.  A  strip  of  wood  about  4  inches  wide 
covered  with  card  sheets  is  fixed  between  the  ends  of  the 
box  in  such  a  position  below  the  stripping  roll  that  the  wire 
teeth  of  the  roll  will  just  enter  the  wire  of  the  sheets  when 
the  shaft  of  the  roll  is  set  in  the  grooves  in  the  ends  of  the 
box.  When  cleaning  the  roll,  it  is  turned  by  hand  with  a 
backward  and  forward  movement,  which  causes  the  strip- 
pings  to  be  removed  and  dropped  into  the  box.  This  method 
is  quicker  and  better  than  the  hand  card  and  provides  a  place 
for  keeping  the  roll.  The  box  also  serves  as  a  receptacle  for 
the  strippings. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  a  card  immediately  after  being 
stripped  produces  a  sliver  slightly  lighter  in  weight,  w^hich 
is  due  to  the  spaces  between  the  teeth  of  the  clothing  filling 
up  again  with  fiber.  In  mills  where  it  is  desired  to  make 
exceptionally  even  yarns  it  is  not  advisable  to  strip  at  one 
time  all  the  cards  supplying  one  subsequent  machine,  but 
to  take  them  in  sections  of  either  two  or  four  supplying 
dififerent  machines. 

GRINDING 


GRINDING     ROLLS 

6.  Grinding  is  the  process  of  sharpening  the  teeth  of 
the  card  wire  on  the  cylinder,  dofifer,  or  flats  by  means  of 
rolls  called  grindinjj:  rolls,  and  is  of  great  importance  in 
connection  with  carding.  Formerly  when  mild-steel  wire 
was  used  grinding  had  to  be  performed  frequently.  The 
clothing,  however,  that  is  almost  universally  used  at  the 
present  time  is  made  of  hardened-and-tempered-steel  wire 
that    is    ground    on    the    sides    after    having    been    inserted 


§19 


COTTON  CARDS 


37 


through  the  foundation;  consequently,  the  tooth  is  almost 
wedge-shaped,  so  that  even  when  the  extreme  point  is  worn 
away  there  still  remains  a  comparatively  sharp  tooth.  Grind- 
ing is  therefore  required  less  frequently 
than  formerly,  not  only  because  the  hard- 
ened-and -tempered -wire  retains  its  point 
longer,  but  also  on  account  of  the  shape 
of  the  tooth. 


7.  Dead  Kolls.  —  Grinding  rolls  are 
of  two  kinds — the  dead  foil  and  the  traverse 
grinder.  The  dead  roll  is  shown  in  Fig.  4. 
It  consists  principally  of  a  hollow  shell  s 
mounted  on  a  shaft  s^.  This  shell  is  cov- 
ered with  emery  fillet  wound  spirally  on  its 
surface.  At  the  ends  of  the  shell,  where 
the  fillet  tapers  to  a  point  it  is  passed 
through  slots,  one  of  which  is  shown  at  s-^, 
•  and  is  firmly  fastened  by  means  of  a  steel 
■  clip  setscrewed  to  the  inner  side  of  the 
shell.  A  dead  roll  suitable  for  grinding 
purposes  on  a  40-inch  card  is  about  42 
inches  long  and  6f  inches  in  diameter. 

When  grinding,  the  dead  roll  is  given  a 

slight  traversing   motion   and    grinds   the 

back  of  the  teeth  with  a  slight  tendency 

toward  grinding  the  sides.     The  traversing 

motion  is  obtained  in  the  following  manner: 

The  shaft  that  carries  the  shell  s  projects 

beyond  both  ends  of  the  shell  sufificiently 

to  carry  at  one  end  the  worm  ^4  and  at  the 

other  end  the  pulley  ^,,  through  which  the 

roll  receives  its  rotary  motion;  this  pulley 

is  driven  by  a  band  that  passes  around  the 

grooved  pulley  on  the  end  of  the  cylinder 

shaft  of  the  card.     The  worm  s^,  which  is  fast  to  the  shaft  s,, 

drives  a  worm-gear  ^5  that  carries  a  pin  s^  set  away  from  the 

center  of  s^  and  loosely  connected  to  the  rod  s-,,  the  other  end 


^ 


38  COTTON  CARDS  .  §19 

of  the  rod  being  connected  to  the  bracket  ^e,  which  is  loose  on 
the  shaft  s^.  Connected  to  the  bracket  Ss  by  means  of  a  short 
rod  is  another  bracket  s^,  that  is  loose  on  the  shaft  5..  The 
two  brackets  Ss,  s^  enclose  a  brass  bushing-  5,„  that  rests  in 
one  of  the  bearings  for  the  grinding  roll  when  the  roll  is  in 
position,  while  a  similar  bushing  on  the  other  end  of  the 
shaft  rests  in  the  other  bearing.  Pins  on  these  bushings 
project  into  holes  provided  in  the  bearings  and  thus  hold  the 
bushings  firmly  in  one  position.  These  bushings  are  loose 
on  the  shaft  s,;  consequently,  the  shaft  is  free  to  revolve 
and  also  to  move  laterally.  With  this  construction,  it  will 
be  seen  that  as  the  worm  s^  drives  the  worm-gear  s^,  the 
latter,  acting  as  an  eccentric  because  of  the  position  of 
the  pin  s^,  will  tend  to  impart  a  reciprocating  motion  to 
the  brackets  Ss,s^  through  the  connecting  arm  j-,,  but  will 
be  prevented  from  doing  so  on  account  of  these  brackets 
being  held  in  one  position  by  means  of  the  bushing  Sio- 
Since  the  brackets  are  stationary,  the  rod  s,  and  the  pin  Se 
that  connects  it  with  the  gear  s,  can  have  no  lateral  move- 
ment; consequently  ^5,  by  its  eccentric  movement  around  Se, 
will,  through  its  bearing  in  the  gear-cover,  a  portion  of 
which  is  shown  broken  away  in  Fig.  4,  and  through  the 
collars  on  the  shaft  at  each  side  of  the  cover,  impart  a 
traversing  movement  to  the  shaft  s,  and  the  roll  .?.  Dead 
rolls  are  used  for  grinding  the  flats  of  the  card,  but  seldom 
for  grinding  the  cylinder  or  doffer,  it  being  the  custom  to 
grind  these  two  parts  with  the  dead  roll  only  when  they 
have  been  newly  clothed  or  when  their  surfaces  become 
very  uneven. 

8.  The  Traverse  Grinder. — The  second  type  of 
roll,  known  as  the  traverse  grinder,  or  sometimes  as 
the  Horsfall  grinder,  is  shown  in  Fig.  5.  It  consists  of  a 
roll  t  about  4  inches  wide  covered  with  emery  fillet  and 
mounted  so  as  to  slide  on  a  hollow  barrel,  or  shell,  of  large 
diameter.  Inside  the  barrel  is  a  shaft  containing  right-  and 
left-hand  threads  connected  at  the  ends.  A  fork  /,  fits  into 
these  threads,  and  a  pin  that  projects  from  it  passes  into 


40  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

another  pin  /«  that  projects  into  a  straight  slot  in  the  outer 
barrel  and  enters  the  roll.  There  are  two  pulleys,  one  of 
which  /o  is  on  the  inner  shaft,  while  the  other  t^  is  on  an 
extended  portion  of  the  barrel.  With  this  construction  the 
barrel  is  rotated  when  t^  is  driven;  the  pressure  of  the  edge 
of  the  slot  against  the  pin  t^  when  the  barrel  is  revolved 
causes  the  grinding  roll  also  to  revolve.  A  traverse  motion 
is  also  imparted  to  the  roll  /  by  driving  the  pulley  /;,,  which 
causes  the  fork  /,  to  be  moved  from  side  to  side,  changing 
from  one  thread  to  the  other  at  each  side  of  the  card.  Since 
the  grinding  roll  presses  against  the  clothing,  the  result  of  its 
traverse  motion  is  to  cause  the  teeth  that  are  in  contact  with 
it  to  be  bent,  or  inclined,  toward  the  side  of  the  card  to  which 
the  roll  is  moving.  The  result  of  this  is  that  the  sides  of  the 
points  of  the  teeth  are  ground  down  slightly,  as  well  as  the 
top  of  the  points.  In  consequence  of  the  roll  being  so 
narrow,  it  requires  a  longer  time  to  grind  the  card  with  this 
mechanism  than  with  the  dead  roll,  other  conditions  being 
the  same,  but  the  results  are  so  much  better  that  it  is  very 
largely  used.  There  is  an  unavoidable  dwell  on  each  side, 
which  tends  to  grind  down  the  sides  rather  more  than  the 
center;  this  is  the  only  other  important  disadvantage  in  the 
use  of  this  grinder. 

Grinding  rolls,  whether  traverse  grinders  or  dead  rolls,  are 
usually  covered  with  emery  fillet;  this  is  a  tape  1  inch  wide 
covered  on  one  side  with  emery,  and  is  supplied  in  lengths  of 
about  300  feet.  It  can  be  obtained  with  emery  of  different 
degrees  of  coarseness  or  fineness,  the  kind  generally  used 
for  card  grinding  being  known  as  No.  40. 


PREPARATION    FOR    GRINDING 

9.  All  grinding  is  usually  performed  by  a  man  known  as 
a  grinder,  who  in  large  mills  has  from  twenty  to  sixty 
revolving-top  flat  cards  under  his  charge.  The  cards  are 
usually  ground  in  turn,  unless  some  accident  or  defect  neces- 
sitates some  card  to  be  ground  out  of  the  regular  order. 
Before  the  grinding  takes  place,  however,  the  card  must  be 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  41 

prepared  for  this  purpose,  and  the  operation  is  somewhat  as 
follows:  The  lap  is  either  broken  off  at  the  back  and  the  end 
allowed  to  run  through,  or  more  usually  the  side  shaft  ;;/,2, 
Fig.  2,  is  disengaged  and  the  feed-roll  turned  backwards  by 
turning  the  plate  bevel  gear  b^  in  the  opposite  direction  from 
that  in  which  it  usually  revolves.  This  rolls  up  the  sheet 
and  takes  the  fringe  of  cotton  away  from  the  licker.  Any 
cotton  in  the  card  is  allowed  to  run  through  and  the  cylinder 
and  doffer  are  then  stripped  clean  of  short  fibers,  care  being 
taken  that  no  cotton  remains  on  the  part  stripped.  The 
card  is  then  started  and  the  flats  allowed  to  run  bare  of  all 
strippings;  this  takes  from  25  to  40  minutes,  according  to  the 
speed  of  the  flats  and  nature  of  the  cotton  being  carded.  The 
card  is  then  stopped  and  the  fly  taken  out  from  under  the 
card  and  from  between  the  sides  of  the  cylinder  and  frame- 
work and  between  the  sides  of  the  doffer  and  framework, 
where  it  collects.  Card  makers  have  in  late  years  greatly 
lessened  this  space  and  in  so  doing  partly  reduced  the  amount 
of  fly  at  these  points.  This  waste  is  sometimes  called 
cylincler-eiid  >vaste,  and  is  removed  from  these  parts  by 
means  of  a  long,  thin  hook  usually  made  from  a  bale  tie. 
Fly  also  collects  around  the  shaft  that  connects  the  sprocket 
gears  that  drive  the  flats.  Care  should  be  taken  to  remove 
all  loose  fly  from  around  and  under  the  card  before  grinding 
is  commenced.  If  any  remains  there  is  great  danger  of  fire, 
as  sometimes  the  grinding  roll  strikes  sparks. 

After  making  certain  that  the  gear  ;«,3,  Fig.  1,  and  the 
side  shaft,  w,,.  Fig.  2,  which  where  thrown  out  of  gear 
before  stripping,  are  well  out  of  contact,  disengage  the 
doffer  and  barrow  gears  by  throwing  up  the  front  end  of  the 
catch  /«,  Fig.  1,  which  will  drop  the  lever  L  that  supports 
the  barrow  gear.  The  licker  belt,  flat  belt,  and  comb  bands 
may  then  be  removed.  In  some  cases,  when  grinding,  it  is 
necessary  to  remove  the  pulley  on  the  shaft  with  the  worm 
that  drives  the  flats,  in  order  to  accommodate  the  bands  that 
are  placed  on  the  card  for  grinding,  but  where  this  is  not 
necessary  the  flats  should  always  be  run  with  their  driving 
belt  reversed,  so  that  when  the  direction  of  rotation  of  the 


42  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

cylinder  is  changed  for  grinding,  as  described  later,  the  flats 
will  move  in  the  same  direction  and  at  the  same  speed  as 
when  carding.  If  the  flats  are  stationary  during  the  grinding 
process  they  will  be  filled  with  dirt  by  the  cylinder,  and  the 
first  cotton  that  is  put  through  the  card  after  grinding  will 
have  to  be  considered  as  waste  on  account  of  the  unclean 
condition  of  the  flats. 

During  grinding,  the  cylinder  is  driven  at  the  usual  speed 
but  in  the  opposite  direction  to  that  in  which  it  is  driven  for 
carding  purposes.  It  is  necessary  to  reverse  its  direction  in 
order  that  the  back  of  the  tooth  may  be  presented  to  the 
grinding  roll  when  grinding.  If  the  front  of  the  tooth  were 
presented  to  the  grinding  roll,  the  tooth  would  be  beveled  off 
at  the  front,  which  is  directly  the  reverse  of  what  is  desired; 
in  addition  to  this,  the  grinding  roll  acting  on  the  front  of  the 
tooth  would  tend  to  raise  it  from  its  foundation  and  cause 
it  to  stand  higher  than  it  should.  In  order  to  reverse  the 
direction  of  the  cylinder  it  is  necessary  to  cross  the  driving 
belt,  if  it  was  previously  open;  but  if  the  belt  for  driving  the 
cylinder  when  carding  was  crossed,  it  is  simply  necessary  to 
have  the  belt  open  when  grinding.  If  it  is  necessary  to  cross 
the  belt  when  grinding  it  will  be  somewhat  tight;  to  avoid 
this  it  is  sometimes  the  custom  to  use  an  extra  belt  of  the 
right  length,  which  is  carried  from  card  to  card  by  the 
grinder,  although  the  same  belt  is  more  often  used  for  both 
grinding  and  carding.  In  this  case,  if  the  belt  was  crossed 
when  carding  it  must  be  taken  up  when  used  for  grinding. 
This  is  accomplished  by  punching  two  holes  in  a  line  cross- 
wise of  the  belt  and  two  holes  similarly  placed  but  a  short 
distance  from  the  first  holes  and  inserting  a  lacing  of  horse- 
hide,  thus  forming  a  loop  in  the  belt.  The  distance  between 
these  two  pairs  of  holes  depends  on  the  amount  of  slack  that 
it  is  necessary  to  take  up  in  order  to  drive  the  cylinder  with 
an  open  belt. 

The  dofifer  when  being  ground  is  driven  in  the  same 
direction  as  for  carding  purposes,  but  at  a  higher  speed,  by 
a  special  belt  u,  Fig.  2,  from  a  pulley  on  the  cyHnder  shaft. 
By  these  arrangements  both  the  cylinder  and  doffer  revolve 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  43 

with  the  wire  pointing  in  the  opposite  direction  to  the  direc- 
tion of  motion. 

10.  After  making  sure  that  everything  is  clear  of  the 
cylinder  and  doflfer  and  that  the  belts  for  driving  them  are 
properly  adjusted,  the  card  is  started.  The  cylinder  and 
doffer  are  then  brushed  by  means  of  a  brush  about  2  feet  long 
and  3  inches  wide,  which  is  held  in  contact  with  the  cylinder 
and  doffer  wire  by  the  operative  and  moved  from  side  to 
side  of  the  card,  thus  removing  all  dust  from  the  interstices 
of  the  wire.  The  card  is  then  allowed  to  run  a  few  minutes 
to  remove  from  the  fiats  the  dust  that  has  lodged  there  when 
brushing  the  cylinder  and  doffer. 

Next  the  card  is  stopped  and  the  grinder  removes  such 
covers  and  bonnets  as  are  necessary  to  be  removed.  The 
grinding  roll  for  the  cylinder  is  then  placed  in  the  stands  v, 
Fig.  2,  with  the  pulley  that  gives  the  traversing  motion  to 
the  roll  on  the  same  side  as  the  main  driving  belt  of  the 
card.  A  band  for  giving  the  rotary  motion  is  put  on  the 
pulley  /a,  Fig.  5,  of  the  grinding  roll  and  around  one  of 
the  grooves  of  the  pulley  e^^,  Fig.  2,  on  the  cylinder  shaft. 
The  grinding  roll  for  the  doffer  is  now  placed  in  position  in 
the  stands  Vt  in  the  same  manner  as  the  cylinder  grinding 
roll.  A  band  is  passed  around  the  pulley  /a,  Fig.  5,  and 
around  the  other  groove  of  the  pulley  e,e  on  the  cylinder  shaft. 

The  pulley  Z^,  Fig.  5,  on  the  opposite  end  of  the  grinding 
roll  imparts  the  traversing  motion  to  the  roll  /.  A  band 
that  passes  around  the  grooved  pulley  compounded  with  the 
tight  pulley  on  the  cylinder  shaft  passes  around  the  pulley  /, 
on  the  doffer-grinding-roll  shaft  and  also  over  the  pulley  /, 
on  the  cylinder-grinding-roll  shaft,  thus  imparting  motion  to 
the  latter  by  slight  friction  only.  In  some  cases  an  extra 
pulley  is  placed  on  the  shaft  of  the  doffer  grinding  roll  and 
a  band  passed  from  this  pulley  around  one  of  similar  size  on 
the  shaft  of  the  cylinder  grinding  roll,  thus  giving  a  more 
positive  traversing  motion.  The  former  method  of  impart- 
mg  the  traversing  motion  to  both  rolls  is  not  very  satisfac- 
tory, as  the   cylinder  roll   does   not   receive   as   positive   a 


44  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

motion  as  it  should,  owing  to  the  small  portion  of  the  pulley 
that  comes  in  contact  with  the  band. 

It  is  possible  to  use  one  bracket  for  carrying  both  the 
stripping  and  the  grinding  rolls,  but  it  is  very  inconvenient, 
as  the  wire  of  the  stripping  roll  should  project  a  short  dis- 
tance into  the  wire  of  the  cylinder  or  doffer,  while  the  surface 
of  the  grinding  roll  should  only  lightly  touch  the  points  of 
the  wire  on  the  cylinder  or  doflEer;  consequently,  the  distance 
from  the  center  of  the  shaft  to  the  surface  of  the  roll  will 
be  different  in  each  case.  Even  if  the  two  rolls  are  arranged 
at  first  so  that  the  necessary  distances  are  obtained,  the  wire 
on  the  stripping  roll  will  wear  down  more  quickly  than  the 
emery  on  the  grinding  roll,  and  thus  it  will  be  necessary  to 
adjust  the  brackets  when  changing  from  one  roll  to  the  other. 
Consequently,  it  should  be  ascertained  which  bracket  must 
be  used  for  each  purpose,  and  in  operating  the  card  this  fact 
should  be  remembered. 


OPERATION    OF    GRINDING 

11.  Grinding  the  Cylinder  and  Doffer. — After 
having  placed  the  grinding  rolls  in  their  stands,  and  usually 
before  the  proper  bands  are  adjusted,  the  grinder  proceeds 
to  set  the  grinding  roll  to  the  wire  on  the  cylinder  and 
doffer.  In  performing  this  operation  it  is  generally  first 
necessary  to  use  a  card  gauge,  in  order  to  make  sure  that 
neither  grinding  roll  is  pressing  too  heavily  on  any  part  of 
the  cylinder  or  doffer.  After  this  the  proper  bands  are 
adjusted,  the  card  is  started  and  the  grinder  determines  the 
actual  setting  of  the  grinding  rolls  to  the  wire  by  placing  his 
ear  as  close  as  possible  to  the  point  at  which  the  grinding 
roll  comes  in  contact  with  the  wire  and  judging  by  the 
amount  of  sound  that  is  made  whether  either  grinding  roll 
is  in  its  correct  position.  In  light  grinding,  which  is 
preferable,  only  a  light  buzzing  sound  should  be  distin- 
guished, and  care  should  be  taken  that  this  is  the  same  at  all 
points  on  the  cylinder  or  doffer.  When  setting  the  grinding 
rolls,  the  brackets  that  support  them  are  adjusted  by  means 
of  nuts  and  setscrews  provided  for  that  purpose. 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  45 

During-  the  grinding  operation,  the  grinding  roll  of  both 
the  cylinder  and  the  doffer  is  rotated  at  a  speed  of  from 
800  to  900  feet  per  minute;  the  cylinder  is  making  about 
2,150  feet  per  minute,  while  a  point  on  the  surface  of  the 
doffer  will  move  about  1,866  feet  per  minute  in  the  card 
under  consideration.  The  direction  of  the  rotation  of  the 
cylinder  and  the  doffer,  and  the  inclination  of  the  teeth  are 
such  that  the  grinding  roll  grinds  the  back  of  the  teeth.  At 
the  same  time,  because  of  its  traversing  motion,  it  also 
grinds  the  sides  as  has  been  explained.  The  grinding  roll 
does  not  merely  touch  the  wire  but  produces  a  slight  pres- 
sure on  it,  which  tends  to  force  the  point  of  the  wire 
forwards  toward  the  foundation  of  the  clothing;  conse- 
quently, if  the  roll  grinds  on  one  portion  longer  than  the 
other,  the  wire  will  be  lower  in  this  place.  This  is  more 
liable  to  occur  with  the  traverse  rolls  at  the  edges  of  the 
cylinder  and  doffer,  where  the  rolls  have  a  slight  dwell 
during  the  reversing  of  the  traverse.  If  possible  this 
reversing  should  take  place  almost  beyond  the  edges  of  the 
cylinder  and  doffer,  and  grinding  stands  are  now  set  wide 
enough  to  allow  a  longer  roll  to  be  used,  which  permits  the 
disk  to  traverse  almost  off  the  wire  while  reversing.  After 
the  card  is  ground,  the  grinder  removes  the  grinding  rolls 
and  brushes  out  the  cylinder  and  doffer  clothing,  for  the 
purpose  of  removing  all  small  pieces  of  steel  or  emery 
caused  by  the  grinding.  After  stopping  the  card,  the  grinder 
removes  the  belt  driving  the  doffer,  makes  the  necessary 
settings,  changes  the  driving  belt,  and  replaces  all  belts, 
bands,  and  parts  that  were  either  removed  or  changed  in 
position  to  prepare  the  card  jEor  grinding;  he  then  puts  on  a 
lap  and  starts  up  the  card. 

The  length  of  time  required  for  grinding  depends  to  a 
great  extent  on  the  condition  of  the  wire,  since  if  the  points 
of  the  teeth  are  dulled  considerably,  a  longer  time  will  be 
required  than  if  the  clothing  is  in  comparatively  good  condi- 
tion. The  degree  of  coarseness  of  the  emery  on  the  grinding 
roll  also  governs  to  some  extent  the  time  required  for 
grinding,   since    coarse    emery   cuts   much  faster    than  fine 


46  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

emery.  The  time  required  for  grinding  is  also  governed  by 
the  amount  of  pressure  exerted  by  the  grinding  roll  on  the 
clothing.  If  the  grinding  roll  is  set  so  that  it  presses  heavily 
on  the  wire,  the  grinding  will  be  accomplished  in  less  time, 
although  there  is  more  danger  of  injuring  the  wire;  such 
grinding  is  known  as  heavy  grinding.  If  the  grinding  roll 
presses  only  lightly  against  the  clothing,  a  greater  time  will 
be  required  to  secure  the  proper  point  on  the  teeth,  but  there 
is  less  danger  of  injuring  the  wire;  this  method  of  grinding 
is  spoken  of  as  light  gririding. 

The  temper  of  the  wire  with  which  the  card  clothing  is  set 
also  affects  the  length  of  time  required  for  proper  grinding, 
since  hardened  and  tempered  wire  grinds  more  slowly  than 
soft  wire. 

As  a  general  rule  it  may  be  stated  that  from  one-half 
to  one  working  day,  or  from  5  to  10  hours,  is  the  usual 
time  required  for  properly  grinding  the  cylinder  and  dofTer  of 
a  card. 

The  interval  between  the  times  of  grinding  depends  some- 
what on  the  product  of  the  card,  the  condition  of  the  wire, 
and  the  opinion  of  the  person  in  charge.  Generally  speaking, 
it  is  advisable  to  grind  frequently  and  lightly  for  a  long  time 
rather  than  at  more  remote  intervals  and  heavily  for  a  short 
time,  as  the  former  method  is  not  so  liable  to  heat  the  wire 
and  to  take  out  the  temper.  If  the  cards  are  turning  off  an 
average  production  for  medium  counts,  grinding  the  cylinder 
and  doffer  once  in  every  20  or  30  days  will  be  found  suffi- 
cient.    In  many  mills  they  are  not  ground  so  frequently. 

12.  Grinding  a  New  Card. — A  card  that  has  been 
newly  clothed  requires  grinding  before  being  used  for  card- 
ing purposes,  and  this  first  grinding  operation  will  be  found 
to  differ  somewhat  from  the  usual  method  of  grinding,  the 
object  being  to  render  the  surface  of  the  cylinder  and  doffer 
perfectly  level  at  all  points.  If  the  fillet  is  not  put  on  with 
a  regular  tension  it  is  liable  to  rise,  or  blister,  at  places,  and 
if  the  tacks  that  hold  it  have  not  been  driven  with  care  the 
wires  around  them  will  be  high.     Sometimes  the  edges  of 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  47 

the  fillet  are  allowed  to  overlap  slightly  or  the  fillet  is 
crowded  too  closely,  thereby  causing  the  wire  to  be  higher  in 
some  places  than  in  others.  If  the  card  is  carefully  clothed 
these  faults  should  not  occur  to  any  extent,  but  when  they  do 
those  wires  that  are  higher  than  the  others  must  be  ground 
level  with  the  rest  of  the  surface.  A  newly  clothed  card  is 
first  ground  with  dead  rolls,  which  are  left  on  until  the 
surface  of  the  wire  on  the  cylinder  and  doffer  is  perfectly 
smooth;  this  takes  from  3  to  10  days.  After  the  wire  has 
been  ground  level  by  means  of  the  dead  rolls,  the  traverse 
rolls  are  used  for  the  purpose  of  putting  a  point  on  the  wire 
and  are  left  on  about  a  similar  period,  the  length  of  time 
depending  on  the  temper  of  the  wire  and  also  on  the  length 
of  time  that  the  wire  has  been  ground  by  the  dead  rolls. 

13.  Grinding  tlie  Flats. — The  card  wire  on  the  flats 
requires  grinc|ing  periodically,  and  while  some  portions  of 
the  preceding  description  and  remarks  apply  to  grinding  in 
general  and  can  be  applied  to  the  grinding  of  the  flats,  .there 
are  special  features  in  connection  with  this  process  that 
make  it  differ  somewhat  from  the  grinding  of  the  cylinder 
and  doffer.  The  fact  that  the  flats  are  arranged  in  an  endless 
chain  and  slide  for  a  portion  of  their  movement  on  a  smooth, 
circular  arc,  while  at  another  portion  of  their  circuit  they 
are  carried  over  rolls  on  which  they  are  suspended,  prevents 
their  being  driven  past  the  grinding  roll  at  the  same  speed 
as  the  card  wire  on  the  cylinder  or  doffer.  On  this  account 
and  also  because  there  are,  during  the  running  of  the  card,  a 
number  of  the  flats  that  are  performing  no  actual  work  for 
a  considerable  length  of  time,  it  is  customary  to  grind  the 
flats  while  the  card  is  in  operation  and  with  the  flats  moving 
at  their  working  speed,  which  saves  a  loss  of  time  and  pro- 
duction. This  slow  movement  of  the  flats,  since  only  one 
flat  is  ground  at  a  time,  causes  considerable  time  to  elapse 
before  all  the  flats  can  be  brought  under  the  action  of  the 
grinding  roll.  The  dead  roll  is  almost  always  used  for 
grinding  the  flats  and  is  placed  in  brackets  on  each  side  of 
the  card.      These    brackets   are   so   adjusted    that    the  roll, 


48 


COTTON  CARDS 


§19 


when  resting  in  them,  will  lightly  touch  the  wire  of  the  flats 
as  they  pass  from  the  front  to  the  back  of  the  card;  that 
is,  it  grinds  the  flats  while  they  are  suspended  by  the  bracket 
over  which  they  move.  An  arrangement  is  adopted  to 
firmly  support  the  flat  while  it  is  being  ground,  and  at  the 
same  time  hold  it  in  such  a  position  with  relation  to  the 
grinding  roll  that  the  heel  of  the  flat  will  not  be  ground  off. 
When  the  flats  are  at  work  the  heel  is  closer  to  the  card  wire 
on  the  cylinder  than  is  the  toe,  and  if  this  relative  position 


Fig.  6 

were  preserved  with  regard  to  the  grinding  roll,  the  wire  at 
the  heel  would  be  ground  off  before  the  wire  at  the  toe  was 
touched  by  the  grinding  roll. 

14.  One  type  of  grinding  apparatus  is  illustrated  in 
Figs.  6  and  7;  Fig.  6  shows  the  grinding  apparatus  in  posi- 
tion, while  Fig.  7  is  a  perspective  view  of  some  of  the 
essential  parts.  The  bra'cket  a  that  supports  the  different 
parts  is  firmly  attached  to  the  side  of  the  card,  there  being  a 
bracket  on  each  side.  Resting  against  the  inclined  sur- 
face   a,   of    the    bracket    a   is    a   casting   b  that  carries   the 


19 


COTTON  CARDS 


49 


Fig. 


bearings  b^  for  the  grinding  roll  c.  Attached  to  this  casting 
is  a  finger  b^  that  serves  to  lock  the  grinding  roll  firmly  in 
position.  The  casting  b  is  firmly  secured  to  the  piece  d  and 
can  be  adjusted  by  loosening  the  nut  b^  and  turning  the  set 
nut  b^,  thus  moving  the  grinding  roll  nearer  to  or  farther 
from  the  teeth  of  the 
flats,  as  may  be  de- 
sired. A  pin  di  that 
is  carried  by  d  may 
be  set  in  either  of 
the  slots  «2,  «3  cast 
in  the  bracket  a.  At 
its  lower  part  the 
piece  d  carries  the 
former  d^,  which  is 
so  shaped  that  if  it 
is  pressed  firmly 
against  the  end  of 
the  flat,  the  wire  surface  of  the  flat  will  be  presented  in  such 
a  position  to  the  grinding  roll  that  the  flat  will  be  ground 
evenly  across  its  width.  These  parts  are,  of  course,  dupli- 
cated on  the  other  side  of  the  card,  and  rods  that  serve  to 
connect  the  two  sides  at  the  points  d^,  d^  extend  across  the 
card,  the  entire  mechanism  being  known  as  the  cradle. 

The  parts  mentioned  form  the  principal  parts  of  this 
mechanism  and  its  operation  is  as  follows:  When  the  cradle 
is  in  position  for  grinding,  the  pin  d^  on  d  projects  through 
the  slot  as  of  the  bracket  a,  but  it  should  be  clearly  under- 
stood that  during  grinding,  d  is  not  supported  by  the  bracket, 
since  the  weight  of  all  the  parts  is  made  to  bear  on  the  ends 
of  the  flats,  which  during  this  time  are  supported  by  the 
bracket  ia^,  attached  to  the  bracket  a.  In  this  manner, 
each  flat  during  its  movement  from  the  front  to  the  back  of 
the  card  is  brought  between  the  bracket  a^  and  the  former  d^, 
against  which  it  will  be  rigidly  held;  the  former  d^  is  milled 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  cause  the  flat  to  assume  its  correct 
position  in  relation  to  the  grinding  roll  and  to  be  held  in  this 
position  until  it  has  passed  entirely  from  under  the  action  of 


50 


COTTON  CARDS 


19 


the  grinding  roll.  When  this  grinding  arrangement  is  not  in 
use  it  may  be  raised  and  the  pin  d^  inserted  in  the  slot  a^,  thus 
bringing  all  the  parts  out  of  contact  with  the  flats;  or  when  it 
is  desired,  all  the  parts  may  be  removed  to  another  card  for 
the  purpose  of  grinding. 

15.  Another  device  for  holding  the  flats  in  the  correct 
position  for  grinding  is  shown  in  Figs.  8  and  9;  Fig.  8  shows 
the  mechanism  as  it  appears  when  looking  at  the  side  of  the 
card,  while  Fig.  9  shows  certain  of  the  parts  as  viewed  from 


Fig.  8 

the  inside;  coasequently,  one  view  is  the  exact  reverse  of  the 
other.  These  parts  are  duplicated  on  each  side  of  the  card, 
but  as  they  both  work  exactly  alike  only  one  will  need  a 
description.  The  grinding  roll  c  is  placed  directly  over  the 
center  of  the  cylinder  and  rests  in  the  bearing  b,,  supported 
by  the  stand  a,  which  is  firmly  attached  to  the  framework  of 
the  card.  In  the  illustrations,  the  bearing  b^  and  stand  a  are 
indicated  by  dotted  lines  in  order  to  leave  an  unobstructed 
view  of  the  interior  parts.  Pivoted  to  the  stand  a  at  the 
point  a,  is   a   casting  d.,   the  upper  part   of  which  projects 


§19 


COTTON  CARDS 


51 


sufficiently  to  come  directly  over  the  outer  ends  of  the  flat, 
and  constitutes  the  former  d,.  If  the  flat  is  forced  against  this 
projecting  piece,  or  former,  the  teeth  will  assume  the  correct 
position  for  grinding.  Pivoted  to  the  casting  d  at  the  point  d, 
IS  a  lever  e^  that  carries  at  its  outer  end  a  weight  ^,,  while 
the  inner  arm  e  of  this  lever  bears  against  the  under  side  of 
the  flat.  Pivoted  to  the  bracket  a  at  the  point  d^  is  a  lever  / 
that  carries  a  shoulder  A  that  bears  against  a  projection  on 
the  casting  d.  At  its  other  end,  the  lever  /  has  a  projecting 
finger  /,  that  bears  against  the  cam  g.     Compounded  with 


Fig.  9 

the  cam^  is  a  sprocket  gear^,,  the  teeth  of  which  engage 
with  the  ribs  on  the  backs  of  the  flats. 

The  operation  of  this  mechanism  is  as  follows:  The  flats 
move  continuously,  the  upper  line  being  face  up  and  moving 
in  the  direction  indicated  by  the  arrow.  The  movement  of 
the  flats  causes  the  sprocket  gear  g,  to  revolve  on  its  stud, 
and  since  the  cam  g  is  compounded  with  the  sprocket  gear, 
it  will  revolve  also.  The  projection  /,  of  the  lever  /  is  held 
in  contact  with  the  face  of  the  cam  by  the  pressure  of  the 
casting  of  on  the  shoulder/.;  consequently,  as  the  cam  revolves 


52  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

and  one  of  the  high  portions  of  its  face  comes  in  contact  with 
the  projection  /,,  it  will  force  the  projection  /^  downwards, 
and  allow  it  to  rise  again  when  one  of  the  low  portions  of 
the  face  of  the  cam  approaches.  This  movement  of  the 
lever  /  causes  the  casting  d  and  former  d^  to  be  alternately 
raised  and  lowered  to  a  slight  extent. 

As  the  flats  move  in  the  direction  indicated  by  the  arrow, 
a  portion  of  the  rib  of  each  comes  in  contact  with  the  upper 
surface  of  the  arm  e,  which  tends  to  raise  each  flat  but  is 
prevented  from  doing  so  by  the  former  d^,  consequently,  the 
flat  is  practically  locked  between  these  two  parts,  although 
its  movement  in  the  direction  indicated  by  the  arrow  is  not 
prevented.  As  the  former  d^  is  raised  the  flat  that  is  thus 
locked  is  carried  upwards  until  it  assumes  its  proper  posi- 
tion for  grinding,  which  is  controlled  by  the  cam  g  and  the 
former  ^Z^.  After  the  flat  has  moved  suflficiently  to  be  free  from 
the  action  of  the  grinding  roll  r,  the  former  d^  and  arm  e  are 
lowered  to  allow  another  flat  to  be  brought  into  position  to 
be  raised  and  ground.  This  operation  is  continued  through- 
out the  grinding  of  each  flat  in  the  entire  set.  The  lowering 
of  the  former  and  arm  allows  each  flat  to  be  brought  into 
position  before  being  raised  in  contact  with  the  grinding 
roll,  thus  insuring  that  each  flat  will  occupy  its  proper  posi- 
tion before  coming  under  the  action  of  the  grinding  roll. 

16.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  flat  when  performing  its 
carding  action  is  supported  at  each  end  only,  and  also  on 
account  of  its  length  being  so  much  in  excess  of  its  width, 
there  is  a  tendency  for  the  flats  to  bend  downwards,  or  deflect, 
in  the  center.  The  rib  forming  the  back  of  the  flat  is  so 
shaped  as  to  reduce  the  amount  of  deflection  to  a  minimum, 
but  it  cannot  be  altogether  overcome.  It  will  thus  be  seen 
that  if  the  flats  are  ground  perfectly  level  when  the  wire  is 
upwards,  the  surface  when  reversed,  that  is  with  the  wire 
downwards  in  position  for  carding,  will  be  slightly  convex 
and  consequently  the  ends  of  the  flats  cannot  be  set  so  close 
to  the  cylinder  as  their  centers.  To  overcome  this  difficulty 
and  also  to  avoid  dirt  and  pieces  of  emery  dropping  on  the 


§19 


COTTON  CARDS 


53 


cylinder,  which  sometimes  occurs  when  the  grinding  takes 
place  above  the  cylinder,  the  flats  are  sometimes  ground  in 
their  working  position.  Such  a  method  is  shown  in  Fig.  10. 
In  this  case,  the  grinding  apparatus  is  placed  at  the  back  of 
the  card  and  the  flats  are  ground  with  their  faces  downwards 


""O^ 


"=o" 


Trrr    Tnr 


while  in  the  same  relative  positions  as  they  occupy  when 
carding.  The  face  of  the  flat  being  underneath  partly^ 
prevents  broken  wires,  pieces  of  steel,  and  emery  from 
lodging  in  the  wire  and  thus  being  carried  around  into  the 
carded  cotton  and  incurring  the  risk  of  injuring  the  clothing. 
The  grinding  roll  c  is  supported  by  bearings  lu  that  form  a 


54  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

part  of  the  bracket  b,  which  is  fastened  to  the  lower  part  of 
the  former  d  by  means  of  a  setscrew  b^.  The  bracket  that  sup- 
ports the  bearings  is  adjustable  and  may  be  altered  to  bring 
the  grinding  roll  into  its  correct  position  by  loosening  the 
setscrew  b,  and  turning  the  adjusting  nuts  on  the  setscrew  b^. 
The  upper  part  of  the  shoe,  or  former,  d,  is  so  shaped  as  to 
give  the  correct  position  to  the  fiat,  and  at  its  lower  end 
is  pivoted  on  the  stud  «,.  Pivoted  on  this  same  stud  and 
connected  with  the  former,  is  a  lever  e  that  is  connected  to 
another  lever  e^,  by  means  of  the  link  e^;  the  lever  e^  is 
pivoted  at  e^  and  carries  at  its  outer  end  the  weight  e^. 
When  the  weight  is  thrown  back  in  the  position  shown  by 
the  full  lines  in  Fig,  10,  it  raises  the  former  together  with 
the  bearings  for  the  grinding  roll,  causing  the  former  to 
bear  against  the  end  of  the  flats  and  thus  give  each  flat  the 
correct  position  for  grinding  as  it  is  brought  around  by  the 
sprocket  g.  When  the  grinding  apparatus  is  not  in  oper- 
ation, the  weight  is  thrown  forwards.  By  this  means  the 
former,  together  with  the  bearings  for  the  grinding  roll,  is 
lowered,  and  no  part  is  in  contact  with  the  flats.  The  posi- 
tions assumed  by  the  different  parts  when  the  weight  is 
thrown  forwards  are  shown  by  the  dotted  lines  in  Fig.  10. 
The  length  of  time  given  to  grinding  the  flats  varies  for 
the  same  reasons  as  those  given  in  connection  with  grinding 
the  cylinder  and  doffer,  but  the  intervals  between  grindings 
are  longer.  It  is  considered  sufficient  to  grind  the  fiats  every 
4  or  6  weeks.  It  is  advisable,  but  seldom  the  practice,  for  a 
mill  to  own  a  machine  for  grinding  the  fiats  of  the  revolving- 
top  flat  cards.  When  a  mill  is  in  possession  of  such  a 
machine,  it  is  customary  at  least  once  a  year  to  remove  the 
fiats  from  each  card  and  to  grind  them  all  to  exactly  the  same 
gauge,  thus  insuring  that  no  fiat  differs  from  any  other  in  the 
same  card  owing  to  the  unequal  wear  either  of  the  wire  or  of 
the  ends  that  rest  on  the  bends. 

17.  Grinding  the  Liicker. — The  licker  seldom  requires 
grinding,  generally  only  after  an  accident  has  happened  to  it. 
When  it  is  necessary  to  grind  the  licker,  the  solid  emery 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  55 

or  carborundum  Trlieel  should  be  used.  The  licker  and 
wheel  are  revolved  in  such  a  way  as  to  cause  the  wheel  to 
run  against  the  points  of  the  teeth  of  the  licker.  After 
grinding,  the  motion  of  the  licker  is  reversed  and  the  end  of 
a  board  moistened  with  oil  and  sprinkled  with  powdered 
emery  is  pressed  against  the  teeth.  By  this  means  the  teeth 
are  made  smooth.  Other  methods  are  sometimes  used,  such 
as  applying  a  soft  brick  or  a  piece  of  sandstone  to  the  back 
of  the  teeth  while  the  licker  is  revolving  in  an  opposite  direc- 
tion to  its  working  one. 

18.  Bnrnisliing. — The  card-wire  manufacturers  supply 
what  is  known  as  a  burnishing  brvisli,  which  is  now  used 
in  some  mills.  The  action  of  plow  grinding  or  side  grind- 
ing in  the  manufacture  of  wire  tends  to  leave  the  wire  rough 
at  the  side,  and  it  is  always  burnished  very  carefully  before 
leaving  the  factory.  As  it  wears  down,  parts  of  the  wire  are 
reached  that  have  either  become  rough  or  were  not  acted  on 
by  the  burnishing  brush  in  the  manufacturing  of  the  wire. 
The  burnishing  brush  is  therefore  used  in  the  mill  to  burnish 
the  wire  on  the  cylinder,  doflEer,  and  flats.  It  is  somewhat 
the  same  as  the  stripping  roll,  but  has  absolutely  straight 
wire  about  f  inch  in  length  set  loosely  in  the  foundation. 
The  brush  rests  in  the  stands  usually  occupied  by  the  grind- 
ing roll.  It  is  set  into  the  card  wire  about  i  inch  and  makes 
about  600  revolutions  per  minute;  its  outside  diameter  is 
7  inches.  It  is  usually  left  in  operation  for  a  whole  day  or 
even  longer. 

When  burnishing  the  wire  on  both  the  cylinder  and  the 
doflfer  it  is  customary  to  run  them  at  a  very  slow  speed. 
This  is  accomplished  in  the  card  under  description  as  follows: 
A  band  pulley  14^  inches  in  diameter  having  three  grooves 
on  its  face  is  compounded  with  a  20-tooth  barrow  gear 
by  means  of  a  sleeve.  The  regular  barrow  pulley  and 
barrow  gear  are  removed  from  the  barrow  stud  and  the 
band  pulley  and  gear  substituted.  The  main  driving  belt 
runs  on  the  loose  pulley,  on  the  edge  of  which  is  a 
groove  20  inches  in  diameter.     In   this   groove   a  band  is 


56  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

placed  that  drives  the  band  pulley  on  the  barrow  stud  at 
about  220  revolutions  per  minute.  The  additional  grooves 
in  this  pulley,  by  means  of  bands,  drive  the  burnishing 
brushes.  The  speed  of  the  doffer  by  this  method  is  about 
23  revolutions  per  minute,  and  as  it  carries  a  pulley  11  inches 
in  diameter  that  drives  an  18-inch  pulley  on  the  cylinder 
shaft,  the  cylinder  will  rotate  at  about  14  revolutions  per 
minute.  The  circumferential  speed  of  the  burnishing 
brushes  is  about  six  times  that  of  the  cylinder. 


SETTING 


19.  The  setting  of  the  different  parts  of  the  card  requires 
careful  attention  and  is  one  of  the  most  important  points  in 
the  management  of  the  card  room.  Owing  to  the  wear  of 
the  wire  in  grinding  and  the  wearing  of  the  journals  of  the 
shafts  carrying  the  cylinder,  doffer,  and  licker,  there  is  a 
constant  tendency  for  the  wire  teeth  of  the  different  parts  of 
the  card  to  separate  and  thus  increase  the  distance  between 
their  surfaces.  This  calls  for  a  readjustment  of  the  various 
parts,  which  is  known  as  setting. 

The  principal  places  where  setting  is  required  are  as  fol- 
lows: between  the  cylinder  and  the  flats,  between  the  licker 
and  the  cylinder,  and  between  the  doffer  and  the  cylinder. 
Other  places  for  setting  are  between  the  mote  knives  and 
the  licker,  between  the  feed-plate  and  the  licker,  between  the 
cylinder  screen  and  cylinder,  between  the  licker  screen  and  the 
licker,  between  the  back  knife  plate  and  the  cylinder,  between 
the  front  knife  plate  and  the  cylinder,  between  the  fiat-strip- 
ping comb  and  the  flats,  and  between  the  doffer  comb  and  the 
doffer.  In  order  to  determine  when  these  parts  require  set- 
ting, it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  remove  certain  covers  or 
bonnets  and  insert  gauges,  while  in  other  cases  the  proper  time 
for  setting  is  determined  by  examining  the  work  delivered  by 
the  card,  a  method  requiring  an  experienced  eye.  The 
intervals  at  which  cards  are  set  vary  in  different  mills,  but 
the  parts  that  contain  the  clothing  are  usually  set  directly 
after  grinding,  while  the  time  for  setting  the  other  parts  is 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  57 

governed  largelj'^  by  the  amount  of  work  done  by  the  card 
and  the  stock  being  used  or  to  be  used. 

20.  Gauges. — The  exact  setting,  or  distance  between 
certain  parts,  of  the  card  is  determined  by  the  use  of  gauges; 
two,  and  in  some  cases  three,  kinds  are  used.  The  first  one 
is  about  9  inches  long  and  If  inches  wide  and  contains  four 
leaves  pivoted  together.  These  leaves  are  made  of  thin 
sheet  steel  and  are  usually  tt^,  tijW,  to  oir,  and  liwo  inch 
thick,  respectively.  The  second  gauge,  which  is  used  exclu- 
sively for  flat  setting,  consists  of  a  strip  of  sheet  steel  about 
2i  inches  long  and  li  inches  in  width  bent  at  right  angles 
about  2  inch  from  one  end,  with  a  handle  attached  to  this 
end.  The  other  end  is  the  part  used  for  setting  and  is 
usually  Tofo",  1000,  or  io*oo  inch  thick.  The  third  gauge 
consists  of  a  quadrant  or  semicircle  mounted  on  a  shaft  and 
is  used  for  setting  the  top  of  the  cylinder  screen  to  the  cylin- 
der and  licker,  and  also  in  some  cases  to  set  the  licker  screen 
to  the  licker.  The  curvature  of  this  gauge  corresponds  to  the 
curvature  of  the  licker.  Card  gauges  are  spoken  of  in  the  mill 
as  being  of  a  certain  number,  thus  a  gauge  toVo  inch  thick 
is  termed  a  No.  7  gauge,  while  a  gauge  looo  inch  thick  is 
termed  a  No.  10  gauge. 

Since  the  leaf  and  fiat  gauges  are  very  thin,  they  are 
easily  damaged,  and  in  this  condition  are  of  little  use,  pro- 
ducing faulty  settings;  consequently,  great  care  should  be 
used  to  prevent  the  faces  becoming  dented,  bent,  or  injured 
in  any  way.  As  the  efficiency  of  the  card  depends  on  the 
proper  settings,  it  will  be  seen  that  any  defect  in  the  gauge 
will  injure  the  quality  of  the  production  of  the  card.  In 
many  cases  poor  work  results  from  faulty  settings  or 
poor  gauges. 

21.  Setting  the  Flats. — In  order  to  make  it  possible 
to  set  the  teeth  of  the  flats  the  required  distance  from  the 
teeth  of  the  cylinder  it  is  necessary  that  some  means  be 
adopted  by  which  the  flats  may  be  raised  or  lowered  as 
desired.  The  manner  of  accomplishing  this  will  be  found  to 
differ  on  different  makes  of  cards;  one  method  is  shown  in 


58 


COTTON  CARDS 


§19 


Fig.  11.  In  this  figure  a  portion  of  the  cylinders  of  the  card, 
the  arch  g,  and  the  fiats  /  supported  by  the  flexible  bend  h  are 
shown.  It  should  be  understood  that  there  is  a  flexible  bend 
similar  to  h  on  the  other  side  of  the  card  and  that  the  ends 
of  the  flats  rest  on  this  bend  in  a  similar  manner  to  that 
shown  in  Fig.  11.  The  bend  h  is  supported  by  brackets, 
which  in  some  cases  are  composed  of  two  parts  h^Ji^.     In 


Fig.  11 

Fig.  11,  the  outer  portion  h^  is  shown  in  dotted  lines.  The 
inner  portion  //,  is  so  made  that  a  projecting  lug  h^  fits  into  a 
hole  in  the  bend  and  securely  holds  it  in  position.  The 
part  h^  is  supported  by  a  screw  that  passes  through  the 
rib^i  of  the  arch  and  carries  two  set  nuts  h^Ju,  one  above 
and  one  below  the  rib.  The  bracket  is  also  further  held  in 
position  by  means  of  the  screw  //,,  which  passes  through  a 
slot  in  the  bracket  and  enters  the  arch  of  the  card.     It  is  by 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  59 

raising  or  lowering  the  bend  //  by  means  of  the  bracket  //, 
that  the  flats  are  raised  or  lowered  as  desired.  There  are 
five  of  these  brackets  on  each  side  of  the  card,  and  when 
setting  the  flats  care  should  be  taken  that  all  the  brackets 
are  properly  adjusted.  When  setting  the  flats,  the  screw  /^ 
and  nut  Ju  are  loosened  and  the  flats  raised  or  lowered  by 
turning  the  nut  Ju  either  down  or  up,  respectively.  After 
the  flat  has  been  set  in  the  desired  position,  the  screw  h^  and 
the  nuts  //s,  h^  are  firmly  secured,  thus  holding  the  bracket 
and  bend  securely  in  their  proper  positions. 

22.  Another  arrangement  for  setting,  or  adjusting,  the 
flats  is  shown  in  Fig.  12  {a)  and  {b) ,  of  which  {a)  is  a  plan 
view,  partly  in  section,  and  {b)  a  sectional  elevation.  The 
flats  are  supported  by  the  flexible  bend  in  the  usual  manner, 
but  the  method  of  supporting  the  flexible  bend  is  a  radical 
departure  from  the  one  just  described,  the  only  resemblance 
being  that  both  have  five  setting  points  on  each  side  of  the 
card.  The  shell  of  the  cylinder  covered  with  fillet  is  shown 
at  w,  while  w^  represents  the  flat,  which  is  supported  by  the 
flexible  conical  bend  w^,  and  this  in  turn  is  supported  by 
the  rigid  conical  bend  W:,  instead  of  brackets.  The  bend  w^ 
rests  on  the  arch  w^  of  the  card.  It  can  be  seen  by  referring 
to  the  figures  that  the  under  surface  of  the  flexible  bend  is 
beveled  and  rests  on  the  beveled  surface  of  the  rigid  bend; 
consequently,  when  the  bend  w^  is  forced  in  toward  the  cylin- 
der the  bend  w^  must  rise,  while  on  the  other  hand  if  w^  is 
forced  outwards  the  bend  w^  must  fall,  thus  raising  or  lower- 
ing the  flats  as  may  be  desired.  The  bend  w^  is  operated 
by  a  screw  w^  that  projects  through  this  bend  into  the  arch  of 
the  card  and  is  held  in  place  by  the  binding  nut  w^.  On  the 
inner  side  of  the  bend  W:,  is  a  toothed  nut  w,  that  serves  as 
a  binding  nut  and  also  as  a  device  for  forcing  the  rigid  bend 
away  from  the  cylinder.  On  the  outer  side  of  the  bend 
is  a  nut  w^  that  serves  as  an  index  nut,  a  binding  nut,  and 
also  as  a  device  for  forcing  the  rigid  bend  in  toward  the 
cylinder.  The  toothed  nut  w.,  is  operated  by  a  key  w^  that 
has  a  fluted,  or  toothed,  portion  to  fit  the  teeth  of  the  nut  w,. 


60 


COTTON  CARDS 


§19 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  61 

When  it  is  desired  to  lower  the  flats,  or  set  them  closer  to 
the  cylinder,  the  key  w»  is  inserted  in  a  hole  in  the  rigid 
bend  and  engages  with  the  teeth  of  the  nut  w,.  The  index 
nut  is  moved  out  on  the  screw  and  then  the  toothed  nut  is 
tightened  by  means  of  the  key,  thus  forcing  out  the  rigid 
bend  and  binding  it  firmly  in  position.  When  it  is  desired 
to  raise  the  flats,  the  toothed  nut  is  loosened  and  the  index 
nut  moved  in,  thus  forcing  the  rigid  bend  in  until  the  desired 
position  is  reached,  after  which  the  toothed  nut  is  again 
tightened.  The  index  nut  is  provided  in  order  that  the 
person  making  the  adjustment  may  tell  at  a  glance  just  how 
far  the  flats  are  moved. 

23.  The  flats  are  set  by  means  of  the  flat  gauges 
described,  while  the  card  is  stopped,  and  preferably  when 
other  machinery  in  the  room  is  also  stopped,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent any  vibration  of  the  floor.  In  order  to  provide  a  blank 
space  in  which  to  insert  these  gauges,  it  is  necessary  to 
remove  certain  flats  from  the  chain  of  flats  above  the  cylin- 
der. Two  methods  of  removing  these  flats  are  followed, 
depending  on  the  method  of  setting  that  it  is  intended  to 
adopt.  In  those  cards  constructed  with  five  setting  points 
on  each  side  of  the  card,  it  is  common  to  use  five  flats  for 
setting  purposes,  a  flat  being  selected  that  stands  almost 
immediately  above  each  setting  point.  The  flats  on  each 
side  of  the  setting  flats,  as  they  are  called,  are  removed, 
making  it  possible  to  slip  in  a  gauge  on  either  side  of  the 
setting  flat;  thus,  there  are  ten  flats  in  all  removed.  A  short 
shaft  carries  the  worm-gear  /,2  and  the  worm  /,3,  Fig.  2, 
through  which  the  flats  are  driven;  on  this  shaft  a  crank  is 
placed  and  used  to  turn  the  flats  while  setting.  By  means  of 
this  crank  the  flats  are  turned  until  each  of  the  five  setting 
flats  comes  directly  above  a  setting  point,  and  they  remain  in 
that  position  until  the  setting  of  the  flats  is  completed. 

Another  method  is  to  remove  a  flat  on  each  side  of  one 
setting  flat  only,  or  sometimes  two  setting  flats.  This  gives 
but  one  or  two  flats  that  are  used  for  setting  purposes,  and 
as  there  are  five  setting  points  on  the  flexible  bend,  the  chain 


62  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

of  flats  must  be  turned  several  times  in  order  to  bring  these 
setting  flats  directly  over  the  places  where  the  gauges  are 
inserted.  Advantages  are  claimed  for  each  system,  but  on 
the  whole  there  is  less  work  and  quicker  setting  when  using 
five  setting  flats. 

The  side  of  the  flat  used  for  setting  purposes  is  the  heel, 
which  is  the  side  nearest  the  wire  on  the  cylinder,  being  about 
ToT  inch  nearer  than  the  toe.  Having  brought  the  setting 
flats  into  the  correct  position  over  the  setting  points,  the 
gauge  is  inserted  first  between  the  flat  and  the  cylinder  above 
the  central  setting  point,  and  the  proper  adjustment  made,  as 
has  been  described.  In  setting  a  flat  it  is  only  possible  to 
set  one  end  at  a  time.  The  end  that  is  being  set,  however, 
should  be  held  firmly  in  position  on  its  bearings  with  one 
hand  while  the  gauge  is  moved  back  and  forth  across  the 
card  between  the  flat  and  the  cylinder  with  the  other  hand. 
Owing  to  the  width  of  the  card  it  is  impossible  to  move  the 
gauge  the  entire  length  of  the  flat;  consequently,  one  side  is 
set  temporarily  and  then  the  other  side  is  set  in  a  similar 
manner,  after  which  the  first  side  set  should  be  tested  and 
also  the  second  side  set  to  make  sure  that  the  flat  is  in  the 
proper  position.  When  both  ends  of  the  central  flat  have 
been  set,  the  flat  at  the  extreme  front  of  the  card  is  usually 
set  next,  at  both  ends;  then  both  ends  of  the  flat  nearest  the 
rear  of  the  card  are  set,  and  then  the  two  intervening  flats. 
In  setting  flats  there  should  be  a  certain  amount  of  friction, 
or  resistance,  felt  when  moving  the  gauge  along  between  the 
flat  and  the  cylinder. 

The  settings  mentioned  are  only  temporary  settings,  and 
after  the  adjustment  of  the  flats  the  brackets  should  be 
seciired  and  the  settings  again  tested,  in  order  to  make  sure 
that  the  proper  spaces  exist  between  the  cylinder  and  the 
flats.  The  cylinder  should  now  be  slowly  revolved,  the  flats 
at  the  same  time  being  moved,  and  if  any  rustling  sound 
is  heard  it  is  an  indication  that  the  wire  surface  of  the  flats  is 
coming  in  contact  with  the  wire  surface  of  the  cylinder  at 
some  point,  in  which  case  the  flats  should  be  set  farther  from 
the  cylinder  at  that  point. 


§19 


COTTON  CARDS 


63 


64  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

The  flats  are  usually  set  about  iluu  inch  from  the  cylinder  at 
the  heel  of  the  flat.  The  flats  at  the  front  of  the  card  should 
be  set  the  closest  to  the  cylinder,  while  the  space  between 
the  flats  and  the  cylinder  should  gradually  increase  toward 
the  back.  If  a  No.  10  gauge  is  used,  the  flats  at  the  back 
are  set  loosely  to  the  gauge;  those  at  the  top  and  center,  a 
little  closer;  while  those  at  the  front  are  set  still  closer. 

24.  Setting  the  Liicker. — The  licker  is  mounted  on 
movable  bearings  ti'.o  resting  on  and  secured  to  the  frame- 
work, or  base,  of  the  card  as  shown  in  Fig.  13.  There  is  a 
lug  zc\t  on  the  arch  of  the  card,  through  which  an  adjusting 
screw  Z£'i2  for  adjusting  the  licker  to  the  cylinder  is  passed. 
By  loosening  the  nuts  ze'.s,  z^'ie,  which  securely  hold  the 
bearing  to  the  framework,  and  by  operating  the  adjusting 
nuts  tt',3,  tt',4  on  the  adjusting  screw  7i\2,  the  licker  may  be 
moved  nearer  to  or  farther  from  the  cylinder,  as  desired. 
The  leaf  gauge  is  used  for  this  setting  and  the  licker  is 
generally  set  to  the  cylinder  with  a  No.  10  gauge. 

25.  Setting  tlie  Doffer. — The  doffer  is  also  mounted 
in  movable  bearings  Wi,,  Fig.  14,  which  rest  on  the  frame- 
work of  the  card  and  are  securely  fastened  to  it  by  the  bolts 
and  nuts  u\s,  u\^.  An  adjusting  screw  u\_o  connects  the 
bearing  of  the  doffer  with  a  lug  ti'^,  on  the  arch  of  the  card. 
When  it  is  desired  to  set  the  doffer,  the  nuts  u\s,  u\^  are 
loosened,  and  the  doffer  can  then  be  set  to  the  desired 
position  by  means  of  the  adjusting  screw  zc^c  and  the 
nuts  a'22,  zfas.  The  doffer  is  usually  set  to  the  cylinder  with 
a  No.  5  or  No.  7  leaf  gauge  by  inserting  the  gauge 
between  the  doffer  and  the  cylinder  where  they  are  in 
closest  proximity.  When  a  No.  7  gauge  is  used,  the  doffer 
is  usually  set  tight  to  the  gauge.  After  attaining  the  proper 
distance  between  the  doffer  and  the  cylinder,  the  nuts  zi\^,  u\^ 
are  tightened,  as  well  as  the  adjusting  nuts  w^.,  ^',3.  The 
position  of  the  doffer  with  relation  to  the  cylinder  is  an 
important  matter  and  should  receive  careful  attention.  If 
the  doffer  is  set  too  far  away  from  the  cylinder,  a  patchy 
or  cloudy  web  will  result,   owing   to  the  doffer  not  taking 


19 


COTTON  CARDS 


65 


Fig.  14 


66  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

the  fiber  from  the  cylinder  regularly  and  thus  allowing  the 
wire  of  the  cylinder  to  fill  up. 

The  mote  knives  are  carried  by  two  brackets,  one  at  either 
end,  and  can  be  adjusted  in  regard  to  the  relative  distance 
between  their  blades  and  the  surface  of  the  licker  as 
described  in  connection  with  the  construction  and  operation 
of  the  various  parts  of  the  card.  These  knives  are  set  to 
the  licker  by  means  of  the  leaf  gauge  and  the  number  of  the 
gauge  varies  from  12  to  17. 

26.  Setting  the  Feed-Plate.— The  feed-plate  b  rests 
on  the  frame  of  the  card,  as  shown  in  Fig.  13,  and  is  fastened 
to  it  by  means  of  the  bolts  and  nut  x.  When  it  is  desired 
to  set  the  feed-plate  b  to  the  licker  c,  the  nut  x  is  loosened 
and  the  plate  moved  nearer  to  or  farther  from  it  by  means  of 
the  adjusting  screw  x^  and  the  nuts  x^,  x^.  The  screw  x^ 
passes  through  a  lug  x^  on  the  framework  of  the  card  and 
into  the  feed-plate.  The  leaf  gauge  is  also  used  to  make 
this  setting  and  is  inserted  between  the  licker  and  the  face  of 
the  feed-plate.    The  number  of  the  gauge  varies  from  12  to  20. 

27.  Setting  the  Cylinder  Screen. — The  cylinder 
screen  is  made  in  two  sections  in  the  card  under  description 
and  these  sections  are  fastened  together  by  two  staple-shaped 
bolts,  one  on  each  side  of  the  card.  These  bolts  pass  through 
the  framework  of  the  card  near  the  floor.  Inside  the  frame- 
work of  the  card  on  each  side  is  a  thin  metal  arch  adjusted 
so  as  to  be  in  close  proximity  to  the  end  of  the  cylinder. 
When  the  screen  is  in  position,  it  is  between,  and  attached 
to,  these  arches,  thus  forming  a  casing  for  the  lower  portion 
of  the  cylinder.  The  screen  is  held  in  position  by  a  number 
of  bolts  passing  through  the  side  arches  of  the  screen.  There 
are  a  number  of  slots  in  the  circular  arches  of  the  screen 
through  which  the  gauge  can  be  inserted  in  order  to  obtain 
the  proper  distance  between  the  cylinder  and  the  screen. 

The  nuts  on  the  bolts  that  hold  the  screen  in  position  are 
on  the  outside  of  the  arches.  When  it  is  deemed  necessary 
to  set  the  screens,  the  doors  on  the  sides  of  the  card  are 
removed  to  give  access  to  the  nuts  on  the  bolts  and  to  allow 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  67 

a  gauge  of  the  proper  thickness  to  be  inserted  in  any  of  the 
slots  of  the  screen  arch.  The  screen  is  raised  or  lowered  to 
the  proper  position  as  determined  by  the  gauge  and  the  nuts 
are  then  tightened,  thus  holding  the  screen  in  position.  The 
screen  is  set  farther  from  the  cylinder  at  the  front  than  at 
any  other  point,  the  distance  being  about  .25  inch,  while  the 
screen  at  the  center  and  back  is  set  about  .032  inch  from  the 
cylinder.  This  arrangement  prevents  the  ends  of  the  fibers 
that  have  been  thrown  out  by  centrifugal  force  from  coming 
in  contact  with  the  front  edge  of  the  screen  and  thus  being 
removed  from  the  cylinder  as  fly. 

28.  Setting  the  Thicker  Screen. — As  the  licker  and 
cylinder  screens  are  very  close  to  each  other  at  their  nearest 
point,  and  as  the  front  end  of  the  licker  screen  must  be  set 
only  a  short  distance  below  this  point,  it  is  nearly  impossible 
to  make  an  accurate  setting  with  the  licker  in  position.  The 
best  method  is  to  remove  the  licker  and  use  a  quadrant 
gauge,  the  curvature  of  the  outside  surface  of  which  should 
correspond  exactly  to  the  curvature  of  the  surface  of  the 
licker.  This  gauge  is  mounted  loosely  on  a  shaft  of  exactly 
the  same  bore  as  the  licker  shaft.  The  ends  of  the  shaft 
rest  in  the  licker  bearings  and  the  screens  are  set  to  the 
proper  distance  from  the  quadrant  gauge  by  sliding  the 
quadrant  along  the  shaft.  The  front  edge  of  the  licker  screen 
at  the  point  where  it  is  hinged  to  the  cylinder  screen  is  usu- 
ally set  about  .011  inch  from  the  licker.  The  nose,  or  por- 
tion of  the  licker  screen  with  which  the  fibers  first  come  in 
contact,  is  set  iV  to  i  inch  from  the  teeth  of  the  licker, 
according  to  the  amount  of  cleaning  action  desired  at  this 
point  and  the  staple  of  the  cotton  being  used.  Setting  the 
screen  farther  from  the  licker  at  the  nose  than  at  the  front 
allows  the  fibers  to  be  drawn  gradually  into  a  more  compact 
space  and  presents  a  more  even  layer  of  fibers  to  the  action 
of  the  wire  on  the  cylinder. 

29.  Setting:  the  Back  Knife  Plate. — The  back  knife 
plate  ^«,  Fig.  13,  extends  from  the  licker  cover,  or  bonnet, 
upwards  to   the   fiats   and  corresponds   in  curvature  to  the 


68  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

curvature  of  the  cylinder.  This  plate  is  fastened  to  a  circu- 
lar bend  x^  by  means  of  two  screws  at  each  end,  and  the 
bend  is  attached  to  the  adjustable  bracket  of  the  licker  by 
means  of  two  setscrews  Xo,  x-,;  consequently,  when  the  licker 
is  adjusted  the  back  knife  plate  is  adjusted,  or  it  can  be 
adjusted  independently  by  means  of  the  setscrews  x^,  x-,. 
The  plate  is  set  to  the  cylinder  to  about  a  No.  17  leaf  gauge 
at  the  lower  edge  and  a  No.  32  at  the  upper  edge.  This 
allows  the  fibers  to  free  themselves  and  stand  out  a  little  from 
the  cylinder  before  coming  in  contact  with  the  flats. 

30.  Setting  the  Front  Knife  Plate. — The  front  knife 
plate  ^11,  Fig.  14,  extends  from  the  cylinder  door  above  the 
dofier  to  the  point  where  the  flats  first  leave  the  cylinder. 
The  amount  of  flat  strippings  depends  to  a  great  extent  on 
the  setting  of  this  plate.  The  plate  is  fastened  to  a  circular 
bend  x^  by  means  of  two  screws  at  each  end,  and  can  be 
adjusted  by  means  of  the  bracket  ^-9,  the  adjusting  screw  jt',o, 
and  nuts  ;f„,  x^^;  or  it  can  be  adjusted  to  a  certain  extent  by 
the  setscrews  jr,,,  x^^.  The  screw  x^^  passes  through  an 
arm  x,^  of  the  circular  bend  x^,  while  both  screws  ;i:,3,  x^,. 
come  in  contact  with  the  arm  x^^  of  the  bracket  x^;  thus  by 
loosening  one  screw  and  tightening  the  other  the  plate  can 
be  adjusted.  The  front  knife  plate  is  also  set  with  the  leaf 
gauge,  its  distance  from  the  cylinder  at  the  lower  edge  being 
about  .017  inch.  The  space  between  the  upper  edge  of  the 
plate  and  the  cylinder  depends  on  the  amount  of  waste  that 
it  is  desired  to  remove  as  fiat  strippings,  but  the  usual 
setting  is  about  .032  inch.  If  the  plate  is  set  farther  from 
the  cylinder,  more  and  heavier  strippings  will  be  made,  and 
if  moved  too  far  away,  the  strips  will  form  one  continuous 
web  instead  of  being  connected  by  merely  a  few  fibers.  If 
the  plate  is  set  too  close,  some  of  the  short  fibers  and  dirt 
removed  from  the  cotton  by  the  flats  will  in  turn  be  taken 
from  the  flats  by  the  knife  and  carried  around  by  the  cylin- 
der, thus  producing  bad  work. 

31.  Setting  the  Stripping  Comb. — The  flat  stripping 
comb  is  mounted  on  two  arms,  as  described  in  connection 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  69 

with  the  construction  and  operation  of  the  various  parts  of 
the  card.  There  is  one  nut  on  each  side  of  the  comb  at  each 
end.  The  comb  is  set  by  adjusting  the  nuts  on  the  arms 
when  it  is  at  the  lowest  part  of  its  swing,  with  its  teeth 
opposite  the  toe  of  the  flat.  Sometimes  it  will  be  necessary 
to  try  two  or  three  flats  before  the  comb  is  set  in  its  proper 
position.  The  distance  between  the  toe  of  the  flat  and  the 
comb  is  determined  with  the  leaf  gauge  and  is  usually  about 
.007  inch;  although  this  setting  should  be  close  enough  to 
allow  the  comb  to  remove  the  strippings  from  the  flats,  it 
should  not  be  so  close  that  the  comb  will  strike  the  wire 
and  damage  it. 

32.  Setting    tlie    Brusli    and    Hackle    Comb. — The 

brush  for  stripping  or  brushing  out  the  dust,  etc.,  from 
between  the  interstices  of  the  flats  is  set  so  that  the  ends  of 
the  bristles  do  not  quite  reach  the  foundation  of  the  fillet  on 
the  flats.  The  brush  has  longer  bristles  near  its  ends,  in 
order  to  brush  the  ends  of  the  flats  where  they  rest  on  the 
flexible  bends,  so  as  to  keep  them  clean  and  preserve  the 
accuracy  of  the  settings. 

The  hackle  comb  is  set  so  that  the  needles,  or  teeth,  of 
the  comb  project  for  a  short  distance  into  the  bristles  of  the 
brush,  in  order  that  all  the  waste  may  be  removed  from 
the  brush. 

33.  Setting  the  Doffer  Comb. — The  doffer  comb  is  set 
in  a  manner  similar  to  that  in  which  the  doffer  and  licker  are 
set.  The  comb  is  mounted  on  sliding  bearings  fastened  to 
the  framework,  or  base,  of  the  card  by  means  of  bolts.  A 
setting  screw  is  fastened  to  the  bearing  of  the  comb  at  each 
side  and  passes  through  a  lug  that  is  fastened  to  the  frame- 
work of  the  card.  When  it  is  desired  to  set  the  comb,  the 
nuts  on  the  bolts  that  attach  the  bearings  to  the  framework 
are  loosened  and  the  comb  drawn  nearer  to  or  farther  from 
the  doffer  by  means  of  the  adjusting  nuts  on  the  setting 
screws,  as  described  in  connection  with  the  setting  of  the 
doffer  and  feed-plate.  When  the  proper  distance  is  obtained, 
all  the  nuts  are  tightened.     The  comb  is  usually  set  to  the 


70  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

doffer  at  the  point  where  they  are  in  closest  proximity  with 
a  No.  7  leaf  gauge. 

The  doffer  comb,  in  addition  to  being  adjustable  as  to  its 
distance  from  the  doffer,  is  adjustable  as  to  the  position  of 
its  stroke,  which  is  changed  by  altering  the  relative  positions 
of  the  comb  and  the  eccentric  from  which  it  receives  its 
motion.  If  the  web  should  follow  the  doffer  instead  of  being 
removed  by  the  comb,  the  position  of  the  stroke  should  be 
lowered;  while  if  the  web  sags  between  the  doffer  and  the 
trumpet,  as  it  sometimes  does,  owing  to  atmospheric  changes, 
etc.,  the  position  of  the  stroke  should  be  raised. 

The  settings  given  are  used  only  as  a  basis.  The  settings 
of  the  various  parts  of  the  card  vary  according  to  the  stock 
being  used,  the  quality  and  kind  of  finished  work,  and  the 
opinion  and  judgment  of  the  superintendent  or  overseer  in 
charge. 

It  is  sometimes  desirable  to  make  a  setting  for  which 
there  is  no  gauge  of  the  proper  thickness  at  hand.  In  such 
cases  it  is  customary  to  use  in  combination  two  or  more 
of  the  leaves  of  the  leaf  gauge;  for  instance,  if  it  is  desired 
to  set  the  mote  knives  to  the  licker  with  a  17  gauge  and 
no  such  gauge  is  available,  the  10  and  7  leaves  of  the  leaf 
gauge  can  be  used  together. 


MANAGEMENT     OF     ROOM 

34.  In  the  management  of  cards  many  points  should  be 
watched,  but  more  especially  those  that  have  for  their 
objects:  (1)  the  production  of  good  work;  (2)  turning  off 
as  large  a  production  as  is  consistent  with  the  quality  of  the 
work  required;  (3)  economy  by  avoiding  unnecessary  waste 
and  keeping  down  the  expenses  of  wages,  power,  supplies, 
etc.;  (4)  maintaining  the  machinery  in  good  condition. 

35.  Quality  of  Production. — With  reference  to  the 
first  requirement,  it  may  be  said  that  good  work  is  usually 
judged  by  examining  the  web  from  the  front  of  the  doffer. 
By  withdrawing  a  portion  of   it  as  the  card   is  running  and 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  71 

holding  it  to  the  light,  the  foreign  matter  and  also  the  neps 
remaining  in  the  cotton  can  be  observed.  If  it  is  the  opinion 
of  the  overseer  that  from  the  grade  of  stock  being  used  and 
from  the  speed  of  the  card  such  work  is  not  suilficiently  good, 
the  card  should  be  examined  to  ascertain  whether  it  requires 
grinding  or  setting.  An  allowance  should  be  made  if  the 
card  is  examined  just  before  the  time  for  stripping,  as  at 
that  time  the  card  wire  is  usually  so  full  of  dirt  that  more  or 
less  necessarily  passes  through,  although  this  is  to  some 
extent  an  indication  that  stripping  should  be  performed  more 
frequently.  In  order  to  test  whether  wire  requires  grinding, 
or  in  other  words  whether  it  is  sufficiently  sharp  to  do  its 
work,  it  is  customary  to  rest  the  fingers  of  one  hand  on  the 
face  of  the  wire  when  the  card  is  stopped  and  by  drawing 
the  thumb  against  the  points  judge  of  their  sharpness  by 
the  amount  of  resistance  that  is  felt.  Dull  wire  allows 
the  thumb  to  pass  with  the  least  resistance.  Should  the  wire 
show  a  glistening  surface  or  appear  bright  on  the  end  of 
each  point,  it  may  generally  be  considered  dull,  although 
this  is  not  an  infallible  test,  owing  to  the  direction  in  which 
the  light  strikes  the  wire. 

The  cotton  should  leave  the  doffer  in  a  level  sheet,  free 
from  cloudiness  and  having  good  sides.  The  intermittent 
clouded  effects  and  flock  sides  formerly  so  common  are  not 
met  with  so  frequently  in  revolving  flat  cards.  Sometimes 
these  defects  are  caused  by  cotton  lodging  in  some  part  of 
the  card,  more  especially  in  connection  with  the  screens  or  at 
the  point  where  the  cylinder  and  the  doffer  meet,  until  there 
is  sufficient  to  be  pulled  through  in  one  lump  by  the  wire. 
Another  test  is  to  examine  the  fly  underneath  the  card  and 
if  it  is  found  to  contain  an  appreciable  amount  of  good  fiber, 
it  indicates  that  the  screens  need  adjusting.  In  case  of  the 
feed-plate,  and  more  especially  where  two  feed-rolls  are 
used  instead  of  a  feed-plate  and  a  feed-roll,  plucking  some- 
times occurs  and  causes  a  cloudy  effect.  Cotton  lapping  on 
the  doffer  instead  of  being  stripped  off  by  the  comb  is  trouble- 
some, more  especially  when  the  rooms  are  allowed  to  get 
cold  during  frosty  weather. 


72  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

36.  Quantity  of  Prodiiction. — The  second  point  of 
management  is  that  of  obtaining  as  large  a  production  as 
possible.  This  can  be  obtained  by  reducing  to  a  minimum 
the  time  when  the  card  is  stopped  for  stripping,  grinding,  or 
setting,  also  by  the  attendants  putting  on  the  new  lap  as 
soon  as  the  old  one  has  run  off  and  by  not  allowing  the  card 
to  remain  stopped  on  account  of  the  end  having  broken 
down  in  front.  When  these  economies  of  time  have  had 
attention,  the  only  other  method  of  increasing  the  produc- 
tion is  to  speed  up  the  card,  which  is  usually  done  by 
increasing  the  size  of  the  barrow  gear.  The  increase  in 
the  speed  of  the  doff  er  is  in  direct  proportion  to  the  increase 
in  the  size  of  the  gear.  There  are  many  cards  at  work  pro- 
ducing 1,000  pounds  per  week  of  60  hours,  and  the  produc- 
tion of  a  card  varies  from  this  down  to  200  or  300  pounds 
per  week.  A  good  speed  for  American  cotton  when  intended 
for  32s  yarn,  carding  800  pounds  per  week,  is  about  122 
revolutions  per  minute  of  a  24-inch  doffer  for  a  60-grain 
sliver.  When  carding  Egyptian  cotton  intended  for  60s  to 
90s  yarn  and  carding  about  500  pounds  in  a  week  of  60 
hours,  a  good  speed  for  a  50-grain  sliver  is  about  10  revolu- 
tions per  minute.  With  sea-island  cotton  intended  for  yarn 
finer  than  100s,  carding  250  to  300  pounds  per  week  and  pro- 
ducing a  35-grain  sliver,  a  good  speed  for  the  doffer  would 
be  about  6i  to  8  revolutions  per  minute.  With  a  27-inch 
doffer  the  number  of  revolutions  would  be  proportionally 
smaller.  The  maximum  average  stoppages  during  a  week 
for  stripping,  grinding,  cleaning,  and  all  sundry  repairs 
around  the  card  ought  not  to  exceed  10  per  cent.,  and  with 
care  this  might  be  reduced  to  li  per  cent. 

37.  Economy. — The  third  point  in  the  management  of 
card  rooms  is  that  of  economy;  this  is  most  important  in 
respect  to  the  amount  of  waste  produced.  The  largest  per- 
centage of  waste  in  any  part  of  a  card  is  in  flat  strippings  and 
amounts  to  about  li  per  cent.  The  next  is  the  amount  of 
fly  from  beneath  the  licker  and  cylinder,  amounting  to  an 
average  of  1  per  cent.     The  cylinder  and  doffer  strippings 


§19  COTTON  CARDS  73 

together  amount  to  about  I  per  cent.,  making  a  total  loss  at 
the  card  of  about  Si  per  cent.,  or  somewhat  over  Si  per  cent.* 
if  the  card  sweepings  are  taken  into  account.  No  allowance 
is  here  made  for  the  unavoidable  loss  in  the  weight  of  the 
cotton  due  to  its  drying  in  the  hot  card  room.  For  fine 
yarns  or  particular  work  these  figures  may  be  increased,  and 
for  coarse  yarns  and  inferior  product,  decreased. 

In  order  to  secure  economy  in  the  flat  strippings  the  front 
plate  should  be  set  in  such  a  manner  that  the  flats  will  not  take 
out  any  good  cotton.  When  it  is  set  otherwise,  the  strippings 
from  the  flats  seem  to  be  connected  by  a  thick  film  of  good 
cotton  that  is  generally  sold  together  with  the  strippings  as 
waste.  As  previously  described,  this  film  can  be  reduced 
until  the  strippings  cling  together  by  means  of  a  few  fibers 
only.  Beyond  this  point  the  only  method  of  reducing  the 
amount  of  flat  strips  is  to  lessen  the  speed  at  which  the  flats 
move,  although  this  is  not  advisable,  as  it  deteriorates  the 
quality  of  the  work  by  not  removing  so  much  foreign  matter 
from  the  cotton.  The  flats  will  also  be  connected  by  a  thick 
strip  of  cotton  if  the  heel  and  toe  are  not  preserved  in  grinding. 
The  principal  method  of  reducing  the  percentage  of  the 
cylinder  and  doffer  strippings  is  to  reduce  the  number  of  strip- 
pings, which  is  undesirable  unless  it  is  desired  to  lower  the 
quality  of  the  work.  The  fly  beneath  the  card  can  either  be 
increased  or  decreased  according  to  the  style  and  setting  of 
the  screens  under  the  card  and  the  setting  of  the  mote  knives. 
Tests  have  been  made  with  cards  without  screens  and  it  is 
found  that  they  make  about  ten  times  as  much  fly  as  cards 
with  screens.  Both  the  knives  and  the  triangular  bars  that 
form  the  screens  should  be  so  arranged  that  they  will  give 
free  passage  for  any  dirt  that  tends  to  lodge  there  and  also 
to  allow  the  ends  of  the  fibers  to  be  combed  or  brushed  over 
the  edges  of  the  knives,  but  the  spaces  between  the  bars  of 
the  screens  should  not  be  so  large  as  to  allow  the  fibers 
themselves  to  be  driven  through. 

38.  Proper  Care  of  Macliinery. — The  fourth  point  in 
the  management  of  cards,  namely,  keeping  the  machinery  in 


74  COTTON  CARDS  §19 

good  condition,  necessitates  first  of  all  proper  oiling.  All 
parts  of  the  card  that  are  in  contact  with  swiftly  moving 
parts,  such  as  the  mechanism  in  the  comb  box,  the  cylinder- 
shaft  bearings,  and  licker-shaft  bearings,  should  be  oiled 
twice  daily;  certain  other  parts  that  do  not  revolve  so  rapidly, 
for  instance  the  doffer,  calender-roll  shaft,  side  shaft,  coiler, 
and  all  idler  pulleys  and  gears,  should  be  oiled  daily;  while 
once  a  week,  generally  Monday  morning,  every  moving 
part  of  the  card  should  be  oiled.  Cylinder,  licker,  and  doffer 
bearings  should  be  filled  with  tallow,  having  a  small  hole  in 
the  center  so  that  it  will  allow  the  oil  to  run  directly  on  the 
shafts  and  provide  a  reserve  of  lubrication  that  will  melt  in 
case  of  a  hot  bearing.  In  oiling  the  bearings  of  the  doffer 
and  cylinder,  care  should  be  taken  not  to  allow  the  oil 
to  get  on  the  heads  of  the  cylinder  or  doffer,  since  in  this 
case  it  is  apt  to  come  in  contact  with  and  spoil  the  clothing. 
Care  should  also  be  used  in  oiling  the  traverse  grinder  that 
the  oil  does  not  fly  on  to  the  clothing. 

The  cards  should  be  kept  free  from  fly  and  dust  and  it  is 
usually  the  custom  to  clean  them  after  the  stripping  process. 
An  opportunity  should  be  given  at  least  once  a  week, 
usually  on  Saturday  morning,  for  the  cards  to  be  stopped 
2  hours  for  cleaning  purposes,  at  which  time  a  more  thorough 
cleaning  is  given  to  all  parts  than  can  be  given  while  the 
cards  are  running.  About  once  a  month  the  coiler  should  be 
taken  apart  and  cleaned,  the  feed-roll  taken  out  and  cleaned, 
the  licker  picked  free  of  all  foreign  substances,  and  all  belts 
carefully  looked  over.  The  belts  should  be  cleaned  and 
dressed  as  often  as  it  is  necessary.  Fly  from  under  the  card 
is  generally  removed  twice  a  week,  and  any  cotton  or  fly 
attached  to  the  screens  should  be  picked  or  brushed  off  at 
the  same  time.  The  roll  on  which  the  lap  rests  should  not 
be  allowed  to  wear  too  smooth,  but  should  be  painted  with 
some  rough  composition,  such  as  paint  mixed  with  sand,  that 
will  give  it  a  rough  surface  and  prevent  the  slipping  of  the 
lap.  The  cylinder  and  licker  screens  should  be  taken  out 
periodically  and  cleaned,  a  good  practice  being  to  polish  them 
well  with  black  lead,  which  makes  them  dry  and  smooth. 


§19  COTTON  CARDS 


75 


The  inside  faces  of  the  front  and  back  knife  plates  and  the 
bonnets  of  the  doffer  and  licker  should  also  be  polished  with 
black  lead. 

After  disturbing  the  settings  of  a  card  in  any  way,  the 
cylinder  and  licker  should  be  turned  around  by  hand  to  make 
sure  that  there  are  no  parts  rubbing.  After  setting  or  grind- 
ing, and  whenever  there  has  been  occasion  to  loosen  screws, 
nuts,  or  other  parts  of  the  card,  these  parts  should  all  be 
gone  over  to  make  sure  that  they  are  tight  before  starting 
the  card. 

39.  The  speeds  of  the  different  parts  of  the  machine  are 
taken  by  a  speed  indicator.  The  doffer,  however,  has  so 
few  revolutions  per  minute  that  its  speed  can  be  ascertained 
by  watching  a  point  on  its  circumference  and  counting  the 
number  of  revolutions  it  makes. 

There  should  be  only  sufficient  draft  between  the  lap  roll 
and  feed-roll,  the  doffer  and  the  bottom  calender  roll,  the 
bottom  calender  roll  and  the  calender  roll  in  the  coiler  to 
take  up  any  slack  that  may  occur  between  these  parts.  Any 
excessive  draft  causes  the  sliver  to  be  unevenly  drawn,  thus 
making  thick  and  thin  places  in  the  yarn. 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


COMMON   ROLLS 


BOTTOM  ROI.I.S 

1.  Introduction. — The  principle  of  roll  drafting  is  the 
most  important  feature  of  parallelizing  and  attenuating 
machinery  and  in  the  production  of  good  yarn.  Therefore, 
the  construction  of  drazving  rolls  and  various  points 
pertaining  to  them  justify  a  detailed  description.  Dl•a\^^ing 
rolls,  of  which  there  are  two  kinds — common  and  metallic — 
are  placed  in  pairs  one  above  the  other,  the  lower  ones  being 
driven  positively  by  means  of  gears;  the  upper  ones,  when 
common,  are  driven  by  frictional  contact  from  the  bottom 
rolls,  while  those  that  are  metallic  are  driven  positively,  as 
will  be  described  later. 

2.  Construction. — Fig.    1    shows    a    set   of    common 

rolls  consisting  of  three  pairs,  a  being  a  bottom  roll  and  a, 
a  top  roll.  The  bearings  of  the  bottom  rolls  rest  on  stands  b 
that  are  bolted  to  the  roll  beam  c.  The  construction  of  the 
bearings  for  the  rolls  and  the  method  of  adjusting  them  in 
order  to  obtain  the  desired  distance  between  any  two  pairs  is 
fully  explained  in  later  pages.  Fig.  2  shows  a  cross-section 
of  the  bottom  roll  a.  Fig.  1.  These  rolls  are  almost 
always  constructed  of  steel,  and  are  fluted;  that  is,  grooves 
are  cut  lengthwise  in  the  surface  of  the  rolls  at  certain 
intervals.  These  flutes  aid  the  bottom  rolls  in  obtaining  a 
better  grip  on  the  cotton  as  it  passes  between  them  and  the 
top  rolls.     The  grooves,  as  shown  in  Fig.  2,  are  not  perfectly 

For  notice  of  copyright,  see  pa£e  immediately  following  the  title  page 
§20 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


§20 


wedge-shaped,  nor  do  they  end  in  a  knife  edge,  although  the 
face  of  the  roll  carries  almost  a  square  corner  on  each  side 
of  a  flute.     A  groove  is  a  little  less  in  width  at  the  bottom 


xu'*^v-i 


Fig.  1 

than  at  the  top,  while  the  number  of  flutes  for  the  various 

rolls  increases  with  the  diameter  of   the  rolls  and  with  the 

fineness  of  the  work  for  which 
the  machine  is  intended.  For 
example,  a  roll  li  inches  in 
diameter  will  contain  more 
flutes  than  a  roll  1  inch  in  diam- 
eter, while  a  roll  intended  to  be 
run  on  a  machine  that  deals  with 
the  stock  in  the  later  processes 
will  contain  more  flutes  than  a 
roll  of  the  same  diameter  that  is 
intended  to  be  run  on  a  machine 
dealing  with   the   stock   in    the 

earlier  processes,  since  the  cotton  in  the  former  case  is  not 

in  as  bulky  a  condition. 

Rolls  are  often  made  with  the  flutes  unevenly  spaced;  that 

is,  the  distance  between  two  flutes  in  one  place  is  different 


Fig.  2 


§20  DRAWING  ROLLS  3 

from  the  distance  between  two  flutes  in  another  part  of  the 
same  roll.  This  is  done  in  order  to  prevent  the  cutting  of 
flutes  in  the  top  leather  roll  that  would  correspond  with  those 
of  the  bottom  roll,  which  would  be  detrimental  to  good  work. 
It  is  also  necessary  to  have  these  rolls  refluted  at  times,  since 
the  constant  action  of  the  cotton  on  the  flutes  will  wear  them 
very  smooth  on  the  edges  and  thus  prevent  their  gripping 
the  fibers.  It  is  important  not  to  have  the  roll  stands  for  the 
bottom  rolls  too  far  apart,  since  in  this  case  the  roll,  due  to 
the  weight  of  the  top  rolls  and  other  weight  placed  on  it, 
will  be  deflected  out  of  a  straight  line,  causing  the  roll  to 
run  untrue  and  resulting  in  poor  work. 

The  bottom  rolls  are  almost  always  case-hardened  in  the 
necks,  or  bearings,  and  in  some  cases  throughout.  They  are 
thus  rendered  stiffer  and  stronger,  which  makes  them  more 
capable  of  resisting  torsion,  the  necks  wear  longer,  and  the 
flutes  are  not  so  liable  to  become  damaged  by  an  accident  or 
by  carelessness.  The  preservation  of  the  necks  is  also 
assisted  by  inserting  brass  bearings  into  the  roll  stands. 

3.  Method  of  Connecting  Sections. — The  bottom 
rolls  are  built  in  sections  varying  from  13  to  24  inches  in 
length,  each  section  being  joined  to  the  next  by  means  of  a 
squared  end  of  one  section  fitting  into  a  squared  recess  in 
another  section.  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  these 
ends  shall  fit  into  their  sockets  accurately,  and  if  they  become 
worn,  as  is  sometimes  the  case  with  the  older  makes  of  rolls 
composed  of  soft  metal,  they  should  be  resquared.  It  will 
easily  be  seen  that  in  a  frame  20  or  30  feet  long  having  a 
number  of  these  joints  in  each  roll,  a  minute  fraction  of  play 
at  each  socket  will  become  an  important  item  in  the  whole 
length  of  the  frame  and  tends  to  produce  what  is  technically 
called  ad  yarn.  When  the  rolls  are  removed  in  sections, 
care  should  be  taken  that  each  section  is  replaced  in  the 
position  from  which  it  was  taken.  In  order  to  make  this 
convenient,  the  end  of  each  section  is  numbered,  the  num- 
bers generally  running  consecutively  from  the  driving  end 
of  the  machine. 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


20 


TOP  ROI.LS 

4.  Construction. — Top  rolls  are  constructed  of  iron 
and  are  made  in  short  lengths,  a  portion  of  their  circumfer- 
ence being  afterwards  covered  with  cloth  and  leather.  That 
part  of  the  roll  that  is  used  for  drawing  the  cotton,  which  in 
common  top  rolls  is  the  leather-covered  portion,  is  known 
as  the  doss  and  is  always  of  a  larger  diameter  than  the 
remainder  of  the  roll.     Top  rolls  may  be  made  with  one  or 


two  bosses,  being  known  as  si?igle-boss  and  dotcble-boss, 
respectively;  the  boss  in  both  single-  and  double-boss  rolls 
may  be  detachable.  When  the  boss  of  a  roll  is  detachable, 
the  roll  is  known  as  a  loose-boss,  or  shell,  roll;  when  the  boss 
is  not  detachable,  the  roll  is  known  as  a  solid  roll.  In  loose- 
boss  rolls  the  part  that  is  detachable  is  known  as  the  shell  of 
the  roll,  while  the  part  on  which  the  shell  rests  is  known  as 
the  arbor. 


§20  DRAWING  ROLLS  5 

Fig.  3  shows  the  different  styles  of  top  rolls.  A  solid  roll 
having  a  single  boss  is  shown  at  (a),  a  longitudinal  section 
of  this  same  roll  being  shown  at  (d);  a  solid  roll  with  a 
double  boss  and  a  longitudinal  section  of  the  same  roll  are 
shown  at  (c).  A  loose-boss  roll  having  only  one  boss  and  a 
longitudinal  section  of  the  same  roll  are  shown  at  (d)  and 
((?),  while  a  loose-boss  roll  with  a  double  boss  and  its 
longitudinal  section  are  shown  at  (/)  and  {£-). 

5.  Single-  and  Double  -  Boss  Rolls.  —  In  certain 
machines  that  utilize  drawing  rolls  there  is  one  roll  to 
every  delivery;  that  is,  all  the  fibers  passing  one  roll  are 
gathered  together  into  one  sliver  at  the  front;  therefore,  for 
these  machines  the  single  boss  is  preferred.  In  certain 
other  machines  there  are  always  two  or  more  ends  coming 
from  each  roll,  so  that  the  tloxible-boss  construction  is 
preferable.  Sometimes  one  end  comes  from  one  boss;  in 
other  cases  two  ends  come  from  one  boss;  while  in  still 
other  cases  three  ends  are  found  coming  from  each  boss  of 
a  double-boss  roll,  making  six  from  the  roll. 

The  advantage  of  double-boss  over  single-boss  rolls  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  there  are  less  weights,  hooks,  and  wires 
on  a  machine  equipped  with  double-boss  rolls  and,  therefore, 
the  machine  can  be  better  and  more  easily  cleaned.  The 
cost  of  construction  is  also  less  with  double-boss  rolls,  and 
the  weighting  is  simpler.  It  also  requires  less  oil,  thus 
reducing  the  probability  of  staining  the  cotton.  Another 
advantage  that  is  claimed  for  double-boss  rolls  with  the 
loose  boss  is  that  any  slight  variation  in  the  diameter  of 
either  boss,  as  compared  with  the  other,  is  offset  to  a  certain 
extent,  on  account  of  the  independent  motion  of  each  boss. 

One  great  advantage  that  the  single-boss  roll  has  over 
the  double-boss  roll  is  that  more  even  yarn  is  produced  with 
the  former,  as  each  end  or  group  of  ends  is  treated  inde- 
pendently of  the  others. 

6.  Solid-   and    Loose-Boss   Rolls. — Solid-boss   rolls 

are  gradually  passing  into  disuse  except  for  the  back  rolls 
of  frames,  being  replaced  by  rolls  with  loose  bosses.     With 


6  DRAWING  ROLLS  §20 

a  loose-boss  roll  only  the  shell  revolves,  consequently  the 
neck  and  ends  do  not  need  oiling.  When  it  is  desired  to  oil 
the  roll,  the  shell  is  removed  and  a  few  drops  of  oil  placed 
on  the  arbor.  With  such  a  construction,  especially  when 
such  thorough  lubrication  can  be  obtained,  it  is  very  easy  for 
the  shell  to  revolve  and  there  is  also  little  danger  of  oil  get- 
ting on  the  cotton. 

The  portion  of  the  arbor  enclosed  by  the  boss  is  barrel- 
shaped,  being  large  at  the  center  and  tapering  off  toward 
each  end.  This  construction  reduces  the  friction  by  reducing 
the  bearing  surface  of  the  shell  on  the  arbor,  and  the  oil 
tends  to  run  toward  the  thickest  portion  of  the  arbor,  thus 
insuring  proper  lubrication  and  preventing  the  leakage  of  oil. 

Rolls  are  also  constructed  on  this  principle  with  the  shell 
having  ball  bearings  on  the  arbor. 


COVERING    TOP    ROLLS 

7.  As  two  metal  rolls  revolving  in  contact  would  tend  to 
crush  the  delicate  cotton  fibers,  a  leather  covering  is  pro- 
vided for  the  top  rolls  of  the  common  type.  The  iron  sur- 
face of  the  roll  is  first  covered  with  a  specially  woven  woolen 
cloth,  which  is  cemented  to  the  roll,  giving  a  good,  elastic 
foundation.  When  a  thin  leather  covering  that  fits  very 
tightly  is  drawn  over  this  foundation,  the  roll  is  capable  of 
gripping  the  fibers  and,  owing  to  the  yielding  quality  of  the 
leather  and  cloth,  does  not  damage  them. 

In  order  to  secure  the  best  results,  the  greatest  care  should 
be  exercised  in  covering  the  roll,  and  the  best  stock  should 
be  used.  The  production  of  an  even  thread  depends  more  on 
the  quality  of  the  cloth  and  the  leather,  the  manner  in  which 
it  is  applied,  and  the  care  of  the  rolls  in  the  machine  than 
on  any  other  factor  in  the  process  of  manufacture,  with  the 
exception  of  the  grade  of  cotton  used.  Various  substitutes 
for  woolen  cloth  and  lambskin  or  sheepskin  have  been  tried 
from  time  to  time,  but  none  have  been  adopted  to  any  great 
extent.  Woolen  cloth  and  lambskin  have  been  used  for  over 
100  years  for  covering  rolls.     In  fact,  the  first  frame  built 


§20  DRAWING  ROLLS  7 

for  spinning  had  top  rolls  that  were  covered,  the  skin  being 
used  without  any  cloth.  The  uncovered  roll  known  as  the 
metallic  roll  is  the  only  one  that  has  displaced  these  materials 
to  any  great  extent. 

8,  Roller  Clotli. — The  cloth  that  lies  underneath  the 
leather  should  be  made  of  the  finest  and  best  wool.  The 
wool  should  be  carefully  carded,  so  that  every  piece  of  for- 
eign matter  will  be  removed,  and  the  weaving  and  the 
finishing  of  the  cloth  should  also  receive  very  close  atten- 
tion. It  should  not  be  possible  to  detect  by  the  hand  the 
slightest  variation  of  thickness  in  any  portion  of  the  cloth. 
American  and  English  roll  cloths  are  used  in  covering  rolls. 
They  vary  considerably  in  weight;  the  American  cloth  is 
figured  on  a  width  of  54  inches,  while  English  cloths  are 
figured  27  inches  in  width.  It  should  be  remembered,  there- 
fore, in  ordering  roll  cloth  that  an  American  32-ounce,  for 
example,  is  the  same  as  an  English  16-ounce. 

In  mills  covering  their  own  rolls,  the  old  leather  should  be 
removed  and  the  cloth  carefully  examined.  If  it  shows  any 
evidence  of  disintegration,  or  wear,  or  an  uneven  surface,  it 
should  be  condemned  and  removed.  The  old  cloth  may  be 
removed  by  soaking  it  in  water,  after  which  the  roll  should  be 
cleaned  thoroughly.  When  rolls  are  sent  out  to  be  covered, 
it  is  considered  advisable  to  cut  the  cloth  with  a  knife  in  order 
to  prevent  the  same  cloth  being  used  again,  thus  avoiding 
the  danger  of  having  old  cloth  covered  with  new  leather. 

9.  Metliod  of  Putting  on  Clotli  Covering:. — In  cover- 
ing rolls,  the  cloth  is  cut  into  strips  slightly  narrower  than 
the  boss  of  the  roll.  A  strip  of  this  cloth  is  then  laid  fiat  on 
a  table  and  a  clean  roll,  the  boss  of  which  is  covered  with 
glue,  is  placed  on  the  end  of  the  strip  and  the  cloth  wound 
on  the  roll.  The  roll  during  this  operation  should  be  neither 
hot  nor  cold — simply  warm.  The  cloth  is  cut  with  a  sharp 
knife  at  the  point  where  it  begins  to  pass  around  the  roll  the 
second  time,  and  the  seam  is  then  pressed  into  place. 

Another  method  of  covering  rolls  with  cloth  is  to  lay  a 
number  of  strips  of  cloth  of  the  required  width  in  a  miter  box 


8  DRAWING  ROLLS  §20 

and  cut  them  to  a  gauge  of  the  required  length,  thus  giving 
15  or  20  pieces  of  the  exact  size  required  to  cover  one  roll. 
In  this  way  the  cloth  ma}'  be  put  on  the  rolls  much  faster 
than  when  cutting  each  piece  on  the  roll.  After  the  cloth  is 
put  on  and  the  seam  pressed  together  with  the  fingers,  the 
roll  should  be  put  into  evening,  or  smoothing,  rolls  for  the 
purpose  of  smoothing  out  any  lumps  or  foreign  matter  that 
may  have  been  in  the  glue,  thereby  producing  a  perfectly 
true  and  even  surface. 

10.  Lieatlier  Covering  for  Rolls. — In  yarn-prepara- 
tion machinery  it  is  the  duty  of  a  pair  of  rolls  to  maintain  a 
firm  grip  on  the  fibers  of  cotton  as  they  are  passing  between 
them,  and  yet  the  fibers  must  not  be  damaged  in  any  degree. 
The  rolls  at  the  time  are  revolving  in  some  cases  at  a  high 
rate  of  speed,  and  therefore  the  material  with  which  they  are 
covered  should  be  of  such  a  nature  that  it  will  resist  a 
certain  amount  of  wear.  The  substance  that  has  been  found 
most  suitable  to  meet  these  requirements  is  the  skin  of 
the  lamb  or  the  sheep,  or  the  skin  of  the  goat,  which,  like 
the  skins  of  most  animals,  consists  of  more  than  one  layer. 
The  outside  layer  is  very  thin  and  tough,  and,  while  horny, 
is  very  elastic. 

Fig.  4  is  a  section  of  sheepskin  very  much  enlarged; 
c  represents  sweat  ducts  and  d  the  epidermis.  This  is  the 
part  that  withstands  the  wear  when  at  work.  It  consists  of 
a  horny  layer  above  the  Malpighian  nets,  or  inside  layer,  and 
is  commonly  called  the  grain.  A  fibrous  tissue  e  binds  the 
true  skin  /  to  the  epidermis  d.  This  fibrous  tissue  is  formed 
of  multitudinous  fibers  bound  together  by  a  soft,  milky,  gela- 
tinous substance.  Hollow,  loose  skins  result  if  this  sub- 
stance is  improperly  treated  during  manufacture. 

On  the  character  of  the  fibrous  tissue,  which  is  directly 
beneath  the  grain,  depends  the  strength  of  the  skin;  the 
larger  the  size  of  the  skin,  the  coarser  and  weaker  it  will  be. 
The  explanation  of  this  is  that  there  are  a  certain  number  of 
fibers  in  the  tissue  at  the  birth  of  the  lamb  that  increase  in 
thickness  but  do  not  increase  in  numbers  with  the  growth  of 


5  20 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


the  animal.  The  spaces  between  these  fibers  are  filled  in 
with  a  quantity  of  the  gelatinous  substance  mentioned,  much 
of  which  is  dissolved  in  the  process  of  manufacture.  There- 
fore, as  the  strength  of  the  skin  depends  on  the  number  of 
fibers,  and  since  in  1  square  inch  of  lambskin  there  are  more 
fibers  than  in  1  square  inch  of  sheepskin,  the  younger  skin 
will  be  the  stronger. 

Beneath  the  mass  of  muscular  fibers  is  the  layer  /  that  is 
next  to  the  flesh  of  the  animal.     This  layer  is  composed  of 


Fig.  4 

cellular  matter  and  varies  in  thickness  in  different  parts  of  the 
skin.  If  a  roll  were  therefore  covered  with  a  skin  of  natural 
thickness,  some  rolls  or  parts  of  the  same  roll  would  vary  in 
thickness.  In  order  to  make  the  skin  the  same  thickness 
throughout,  a  process  known  as  shaving:  is  employed. 

As  skins  are  usually  thicker  over  the  spine  from  the  tail  to 
the  neck,  a  test  can  be  made  after  the  shaving  process  to 
determine  whether  they  are  the  same  thickness  throughout 
by  making  a  pile  consisting  of  50  or  60  skins.     If  the  pile  is 


10  DRAWING  ROLLS  ^20 

higher  in  the  center  than  at  any  other  portion,  the  shaving 
process  has  not  been  performed  properly. 

11,  The  color  should  also  be  taken  into  consideration 
when  selecting  a  skin.  English  skins  usually  have  a  color 
known  as  the  natural  oak-bark  color,  which  is  a  light  brown, 
while  others  are  given  a  reddish  color  by  means  of  dye. 
American  skins  are  usually  of  a  dark-cream  color.  The  red 
color  is  preferred  by  some  spinners,  who  claim  that  because 
of  the  color  they  can  more  readily  see  when  the  cotton  is 
absent  from  the  rolls,  but  as  the  rolls  get  to  be  somewhat  of 
the  same  color  after  being  used  a  few  days,  the  red  does  not 
possess  an  advantage  in  this  respect  for  any  length  of  time. 
The  darker  the  shades,  however,  the  more  the  grain  defects 
are  hidden  from  view. 

The  size  and  color  of  skins  depend  on  the  size  and  age  of 
the  animal  from  which  they  are  obtained.  Lambskin  is  used 
for  the  more  delicate  work,  as  it  is  finer  than  sheepskin, 
while  sheepskin  (especially  that  which  is  old,  being  thick  and 
coarse)  is  used  for  the  coarser  work.  A  top  roll  is  really  a 
cushion  that  will  only  yield  enough  to  prevent  crushing  the 
fibers  and  yet  maintain  a  pressure  against  the  steel  roll.  As 
the  covering  for  rolls  on  coarse  work  must  yield  to  a  greater 
extent  than  that  of  rolls  on  fine  work,  it  is  evident  that  the 
thicker  skin  and  the  heavier  cloth  should  be  used  on  rolls  for 
coarse  work. 

12.  Selection  of  Skins. — The  skin  from  which  the 
largest  number  of  roll  coverings  can  be  obtained  is  the  most 
economical  to  use,  and  the  number  of  coverings  that  can  be 
obtained  from  a  skin  should  be  estimated  when  purchasing. 
A  cot  is  the  piece  of  leather  intended  to  cover  one  boss  of  a 
roll,  cut  to  a  rectangular  shape  with  two  of  its  edges  after- 
wards joined  together  so  that  the  leather  will  form  a  tube. 
The  skin  should  be  purchased  by  the  minimum  measurement; 
that  is,  it  should  be  measured  at  its  shortest  parts.  The 
diagram  shown  in  Fig.  5  will  serve  to  illustrate  this  point. 
A  parallelogram  aaaa,  which  indicates  the  area  of  the 
number  of  leather  tubes,  or  cots,  that  may  be  cut,  is  placed 


20 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


11 


on  the  skin  and,  if  the  skin  is  shorter  than  the  distance  b  b 
or  narrower  than  the  distance  cc,  the  skin  is  below  the 
minimum  measurement.  The  neck  should  not  be  measured, 
as  it  is  not  suitable  for  roll  covering. 

The  shape  of  the  skin  shown  in  Fig.  5  is  the  best  for  roll 
skins.  If  there  are  any  defects,  such  as  knife  cuts,  or  any 
evidence  of  overshaving  on  the  flesh  side,  the  skin  is  not  of 
the    first    quality    and  can  only    be    used    on    coarse    work. 


Fig.  5 

Another  serious  defect  is  the  presence  of  fine  hairs,  and  if 
such  are  detected  the  skin  should  be  condemned. 

A  hard-grained  skin,  in  which  the  firmness  is  introduced  by 
the  method  of  finishing  the  skin,  will  not  act  successfully  as 
a  cushion.  The  grain  side  of  the  skin  should  feel  smooth 
and  firm,  yet  be  pliable  and  capable  of  expansion  and  com- 
pression, while  the  flesh  side  should  have  a  nap  as  fine  as 
cloth.     The  effect  of  handling  the  whole  skin  should  be  the 


12  DRAWING  ROLLS  §20 

same  as  handling  a  kid  glove,  allowing  for  the  difference  in 
substance.  The  skin  when  placed  under  tension  and  examined 
by  a  magnifying  glass  should  show  an  unbroken  surface  with 
no  cracks  on  it. 

13.     Method     of     Putting    on     Leatlier     Covering. 

When  placing  the  leather  covering  on  rolls,  the  skins  are  cut 
up  into  strips  rather  wider  than  the  boss  of  the  roll  so  as  to 
allow  for  burning  off  the  ends.  The  strips  are  next  cut 
into  small  pieces  just  sufficient  to  fold  around  the  boss  of 
the  roll,  and  their  ends  are  beveled  so  as  to  make  a  joint  that 
will  not  be  perceptible  to  the  touch.  Beveling  machines  are 
used  for  cutting  the  bevel,  the  skin  being  placed  in  the 
machine  so  that  the  knife  enters  at  the  flesh  side.  The 
beveled  ends  are  next  joined  together  with  cement,  great 
care  being  taken  in  performing  this  operation.  The  leather 
tube,  or  cot,  is  placed  in  a  press  for  a  short  time  in  order  to 
insure  a  perfect  joint.  Hand  or  power  presses  are  now 
constructed  in  which  cots  may  be  made  and  pressed. 

The  next  operation  is  to  draw  the  cot  over  the  boss  of  the 
roll — an  operation  somewhat  similar  to  drawing  the  finger  of 
a  glove  on  the  finger.  The  roll  is  then  revolved  at  a  high 
rate  of  speed  and  any  part  of  the  leather  that  projects  over 
the  boss  is  burned  off  by  friction  with  a  hard  piece  of 
wood.  The  charred  portion  of  the  skin  forms  a  collar  at  the 
ends  of  each  boss. 

With  long  rolls  it  is  diiScult  to  make  a  cot  of  exactly  the 
same  diameter  throughout  and  draw  it  on  the  roll  with  the 
same  tension  in  every  part.  This  difficulty  is  overcome  by 
some  roll  coverers  by  taking  a  long  strip  of  leather  and 
winding  it  around  the  roll  spirally,  attaching  it  with  cement 
as  they  wind  it  on.  The  skins  in  this  case  are  cut  into 
strips  from  1  inch  to  H  inches  wide. 

The  extra  cost  of  covering  and  the  extreme  care  that  is 
necessary  in  order  to  keep  the  roll  true  are  the  disadvantages 
of  this  method.  It  is  also  claimed  by  some  that  the  cushion 
effect  of  the  leather  is  destroyed  by  this  method  of  covering, 
as    a    hard    piecing    extends    completely    around    the    roll 


§20  DRAWING  ROLLS  13 

throughout  its  entire  length;  while  on  the  roll  covered  with 
a  cot,  there  is  one  hard  piecing  straight  across. 

Among  the  precautions  that  should  be  observed  is  the 
manner  in  which  the  roll  is  placed  in  the  machine.  It  should 
be  placed  so  that  it  will  not  run  against  the  joint,  and  in 
some  cases  the  way  the  lap  runs  is  marked  by  a  dot  of  ink 
on  the  grain  side  of  the  skin.  In  putting  cots  on  double- 
boss  rolls  care  should  be  taken  that  the  bevels  run  the  same 
way  and  that  the  cots  are  of  the  same  thickness. 


VARNISHING 

14.  It  is  the  general  practice  in  almost  all  mills  to  varnish 
the  rolls  that  perform  the  heaviest  work;  namely,  the  rolls  of 
the  railway  head,  drawing  frame,  comber,  sliver  lap,  ribbon 
lap,  and  in  some  cases  the  slubber.  The  reason  for  this  is 
that  the  grain  of  the  leather  wears  away  and  becomes  broken, 
on  account  of  the  high  speed  at  which  the  rolls  revolve  and 
the  heavy  work  that  they  have  to  do  compared  with  rolls  in 
other  frames.  It  is  therefore  necessary  that  something 
should  be  used  as  a  substitute  for  the  natural  grain  of  the 
leather,  which  gives  the  roll  its  drawing  properties,  and  a 
varnished  surface  has  been  adopted  as  the  most  practical. 

Varnished  rolls  should  present  a  smooth,  hard  surface  that 
has  dried  without  cracking  and  that  does  not  cause  fiber  or 
dust  to  adhere  to  it.  Too  much  glue  in  the  varnish  gives 
the  rolls  the  appearance  of  a  highly  polished  surface,  which 
has  a  tendency  to  crack  when  dry,  while  too  little  allows 
the  varnish  to  wear  away  very  quickly.  Almost  every  mill 
has  its  own  system  of  preparing  varnish,  while  roll  coverers 
have  for  sale  various  compositions  for  this  purpose. 

15.  Recipes  for  Roll  Varnisli.— Three  recipes  for  pre- 
paring varnish  are  given: 

1.  9  ounces  of  fish  glue;  2  quarts  of  acetic  acid;  2  tea- 
spoonfuls  of  oil  of  Origanum.  This  mixture  should  stand  for 
about  2  days  in  order  that  the  glue  may  be  thoroughly  dis- 
solved, after  which  it  may  be  thickened  with  fine  powdered 
paint  of  any  color  that  may  be  desired. 


14  DRAWING  ROLLS  §20 

2.  lo"  pounds  of  fish  glue;  i  pound  of  gum  arable;  i  pound 
of  powdered  alum;  2  pounds  of  acetic  acid;  4  pounds  of  water. 
This  mixture  should  be  thoroughly  dissolved  over  a  slow 
fire,  after  which  it  may  be  thickened  with  paint  in  the  same 
manner  as  in  the  first  recipe. 

3.  1  ounce  of  ordinary  glue;  i  ounce  of  fish  glue;  i  ounce 
of  gum  arable.  This  mixture  should  be  dissolved  in  22  gills 
of  water  and  allowed  to  simmer  for  1  hour  over  a  slow  fire, 
after  which  6  ounces  of  thoroughly  ground  paint  of  any  color 
may  be  added  to  thicken  it. 

In  mixing  any  varnish  it  should  be  done  in  a  regular 
melting  pot  In  order  that  It  may  not  be  burned.  After  the 
varnish  is  made  it  may  be  kept  in  stock  for  any  length  of 
time,  but  should  be  put  away  in  a  covered  receptacle;  it  is 
advisable  to  have  this  cover  air-tight,  although  it  is  not 
absolutely  necessary.  If  when  it  is  desired  to  use  the 
varnish  it  is  found  to  be  too  thick  to  spread  properly  on 
the  rolls,  it  may  be  thinned  by  adding  a  little  vinegar,  or 
acetic  acid;  while  on  the  other  hand  if  it  is  found  to  be  too 
thin,  a  little  paint  may  be  added  to  thicken  it. 

16.  Method  of  Apjilying  the  Tarnish. — The  methods 
of  putting  the  varnish  on  the  rolls  differ.  One  method  is  to 
apply  it  with  a  brush  the  same  as  in  painting  a  round  stick, 
taking  care  to  spread  the  varnish  evenly  over  the  surface  of 
the  leather  so  that  when  it  is  dry  it  will  have  a  true,  smooth 
surface.  Another  method  is  to  have  a  board  made  a  little 
longer  than  the  roll  and  about  as  wide  as  the  roll  is  long. 
The  upper  part  of  the  board  is  covered  with  woolen  cloth, 
the  cloth  being  pulled  tightly  and  tacked  at  the  edges.  The 
varnish  is  put  on  the  cloth  with  a  brush  and  the  roll  moved 
over  the  surface  of  the  cloth  by  placing  the  palm  of  each  hand 
on  the  bushing  of  the  roll  and  moving  it  backwards  and 
forwards  until  the  varnish  is  spread  over  the  whole  surface. 

In  some  cases  before  the  roll  is  varnished  it  is  ground.  In 
order  to  insure  its  being  the  sam.e  diameter  throughout  its 
length.  This  is  a  practice  that  should  not  be  encouraged,  as 
it  shortens  the  life  of  the  leather. 


§20  DRAWING  ROLLS  15 

The  rolls  are  generally  given  one  coat  of  varnish,  although 
sometimes  where  fine  numbers  are  required  they  are  given 
two  coats.  New,  or  newly  covered,  rolls  are  given  two  or 
even  three  coats  before  they  are  put  into  the  frame,  one  coat 
being  allowed  to  dry  before  another  coat  is  put  on.  Care 
should  be  taken  that  the  rolls  are  perfectly  dry  before  they 
are  put  back  into  the  frame,  since  if  this  is  not  done  the 
cotton  wall  stick  to  them,  making  it  almost  impossible  to  run 
the  frame.     The  rolls,  if  not  dry,  will  also  become  fluted. 


METALLIC    ROLLS 

17.  For  many  years  inventors  have  endeavored  to 
substitute  something  for  the  common,  leather-covered  top 
rolls,  principally  because  the  covering  of  these  rolls  is  an 
item  of  considerable  expense  in  the  production  of  yarn,  and 
also  because  they  are  troublesome  in  certain  conditions  of 
the  atmosphere  or  for  certain  kinds  of  stock,  especially 
colored  or  bleached  stock,  on  account  of  their  licking  and 
causing  bad  work.  The  most  practical  of  the  substitutes 
that  have  been  tried  is  to  have  flutes  in  the  top  steel  roll 
corresponding  to  those  in  the  bottom  roll.  The  flutes  of  the 
rolls  mesh  together,  but  in  order  to  prevent  the  teeth  of  one 
roll  from  reaching  to  the  bottom  of  the  spaces  between  the 
teeth  of  the  other  roll,  the  rolls  are  held  somewhat  apart 
by  collars. 

There  is  a  wider  space  between  the  flutes  of  metallic  rolls 
than  there  is  between  the  flutes  of  the  common  bottom  steel 
rolls,  the  spacing  being  the  same  for  both  top  and  bottom 
rolls  of  the  same  pair.  There  are,  however,  different  spa- 
cings  in  different  pairs  of  rolls  and,  as  now  applied,  wider 
spacings  are  used  for  back  than  for  front  rolls. 

18.  Construction.  —  A  mounted  section  of  a  set  of 
metallic  rolls  is  given  in  Fig,  6,  while  Fig.  7  represents  a 
portion  of  a  pair  of  these  rolls.  Fig.  8  is  a  cross-section  of 
the  same  pair,  b,  b,  are  the  fluted  portions  of  the  rolls  and 
a,  a,  the  collars,  which  prevent  the    rolls  from  coming  into 


16 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


§20 


too  close  contact.  The  flutes  of  the  back  rolls  are  always  of 
a  coarser  pitch  than  those  of  the  front  rolls,  owing  to  the 
greater  bulk  of  cotton  that  comes  under  the  action  of  the  back 


Fig.  6 


rolls.  The  back  rolls  for  drawing  frames  as  now  constructed 
have  16  flutes  on  their  circumference  for  each  inch  of  diame- 
ter.    The  third  roll  has  24  flutes,  while  the  front  and  second 


Fig.  7 


have  32  flutes.     They  are  therefore  known  as  rolls  with  a  16 
pitch,  24  pitch,  and  o2  pitch,  respectively. 

On  a  16-pitch  roll  the  diameter  of  the  collars  is  .07  inch 


§20 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


17 


less  than  the  diameter  of  the  fluted  section,  and  as  both  rolls 
are  the  same,  the  amount  of  overlap  is  .07  inch.  With  a 
24-pitch  roll  the  collars  are  .06  inch  less  in  diameter  than  the 
fluted  section,  and  on  a  o2-pitch  roll  they  are  .044  inch  less. 
Thus,  the  amount  of  overlap  with  24-pitch  rolls  is  .06  inch 
and  with  32-pitch  rolls,  .044  inch.  This  amount  of  overlap 
is  sufficient  to  grip  the  sliver  as  shown  in  Fig.  8. 


m„„„„„.,.„„„  ,,,,,,,,/^ 


Fig.  8 


It  will  be  seen  that  the  cotton  does  not  follow  a  straight 
line,  as  it  does  with  common  rolls,  but  is  crimped  to  some 
extent,  and  if  the  collar  did  not  keep  the  rolls  partly  sepa- 
rated, the  fibers  would  be  damaged  by  the  contact  of  the 
flutes.  The  amount  of  the  overlap  is  so  small  that  it  merely 
grips  the  fibers  enough  to  attain  a  draft  and  does  not  dam- 
age them  to  any  appreciable  extent. 

19.  Advantage  of  Metallic  Rolls. — The  top  rolls 
of  a  metallic  set  are  positively  driven  by  the  flutes  of  the 
lower  roll  meshing  with  the  flutes  of  the  upper  roll,  and 
consequently  a  more  positive  draft  is  obtained  than  with  the 


18  DRAWING  ROLLS  §20 

common  rolls.  The  cost  of  roll  covering  and  subsequent 
varnishing  is  saved,  and  the  bad  work  that  arises  from  imper- 
fectly varnished  rolls  is  entirely  obviated. 

It  is  claimed  that,  as  metallic  rolls  run  on  collars,  friction 
is  greatly  reduced;  that  licking,  from  the  presence  of  elec- 
tricity and  atmospheric  changes,  is  prevented;  that  consequent 
waste  is  avoided;  and  that  the  product  of  each  frame  equipped 
with  metallic  rolls  is  greater  than  a  machine  equipped  with 
common  rolls  running  under  the  same  conditions,  because  of 
the  curved  path  taken  by  the  cotton.  It  is  further  stated  that 
metallic  rolls  produce  work  that  is  equal  in  quality  to  that 
produced  by  common  rolls  and  that  there  is  no  necessity  of 
keeping  extra  rolls  in  stock.  However,  metallic  rolls  at  the 
present  time  are  not  used  to  any  large  extent  except  on  rail- 
way heads,  drawing  frames,  sliver-lap  machines,  and  slubbers. 


SETTING  AND  WEIGHTING  ROLLS 


ruIjES  governing  setting 

20.  One  of  the  most  important  points  in  relation  to  cotton 
machinery  is  the  relative  position  of  one  pair  of  rolls  to 
another,  which  position  is  governed  by  the  length  of  the 
staple  and  bulk  of  cotton  being  used.  The  bad  work  that 
will  result  from  the  improper  setting  of  rolls  can  never  be 
remedied.  In  setting  rolls,  there  is  one  broad  principle  that 
must  always  be  followed:  the  distance  between  the  centers 
of  each  pair  of  rolls  must  always  exceed  the  average  length 
of  the  staple  of  the  cotton  being  used.  If  this  were  not  so, 
the  fiber  would  come  under  the  action  of  the  forward  pair  of 
rolls  before  it  was  released  by  the  preceding  pair,  and  since 
the  speed  of  the  rolls  increases  with  each  pair  that  is  nearer 
the  front  of  the  machine,  this  would  result  in  the  fiber  being 
strained  and  broken. 

In  addition  to  the  length  of  staple  being  run,  there  are 
several  other  principles  that  should  be  considered  in  setting 
rolls.     Rapidly  revolving   rolls  require  wider   settings  than 


§20  DRAWING  ROLLS  19 

those  having  slow  speed,  since  with  a  slow  speed  the  rolls 
could  be  set  closer  together  and  still  the  fibers  would  be 
given  a  sufficient  length  of  time  to  be  drawn  away  from  the 
mass  of  cotton  without  being  strained.  From  this  statement 
the  conclusion  should  not  be  drawn  that,  since  the  front  pair 
of  rolls  in  any  frame  revolves  faster  than  the  back  pair,  the 
front  rolls  should  be  set  farther  from  the  middle  rolls  than  the 
back  rolls;  for  this  is  not  so,  as  other  circumstances,  having 
to  be  considered,  overbalance  that  of  the  speed  of  the  rolls. 
Since  the  speed  of  the  rolls  increases  with  each  pair  that  is 
nearer  the  front  of  the  machine,  the  cotton  as  it  passes 
through  the  roll  is  greatly  diminished  in  weight  per  yard 
from  back  to  front,  and  since  it  is  much  easier  to  draw  the 
fibers  past  each  other  when  there  is  only  a  comparatively 
small  number  of  fibers  than  when  there  is  a  large  number, 
two  pair  of  rolls  that  are  near  the  front  would  have  a  less 
space  between  them  than  two  pair  of  rolls  at  the  back. 
For  this  reason  the  space  between  each  two  pair  of  rolls  in 
a  set  increases  from  delivery  roll  to  feed-roll.  For  example, 
if  the  staple  of  the  cotton  being  used  on  a  drawing  frame  is 
1  inch,  the  distance  between  the  front  and  second  pairs  of 
rolls  might  be  li  inches;  between  the  second  and  third, 
If  inches;  and  between  the  third  and^  back,   H  inches. 

When  the  ends  put  up  at  the  back  are  heavily  twisted,  the 
settings  are  wider  on  the  same  machine  than  when  the  ends 
fed  are  slightly  twisted.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is 
more  difficult  to  draw  the  fibers  past  each  other  in  the  former 
case  than  in  the  latter.  Harsh,  wiry  cotton  requires  wider 
settings  than  smooth,  silky  cotton,  because  it  does  not  draw 
so  easily. 

As  the  rolls  are  set  according  to  the  staple  of  the  cotton 
used,  it  is  therefore  evident  that  the  rolls  intended  to  run 
on  coarse  counts,  which  is  made  from  short-staple  cotton, 
must  be  smaller  in  diameter  than  those  intended  to  work 
long-staple  cotton,  in  order  that  the  centers  of  the  rolls  may 
be  brought  near  enough  together.  Sometimes  the  middle 
roll  is  made  smaller  than  the  front  and  back,  where  three 
pair  of  rolls  are  used,  so  that  a  close  setting  may  be  made. 


Shorf-  5/-c3p/e 


Intermediate 


Rov/na  frame 


2pirtnin^  Frame 


Medium  SMp/e 


Rovini^  Trame 


Spinninif  rmme 
Selfvveighted  t>ack 
and  middle  Top  rolls  i 


Lopi^  Staple 


Jack  Royin^  Frame  -  Dead  Weighted 

Self  iveiahted  l>ack 
and m/dal^_Top  rolls  , 


Jack  Roving  Frame 


Fig.  9 


Fig.  10 


Fig.  11 


20 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


21 


The  diagrams  that  are  included  in  Figs.  9,  10,  and  11  show 
the  settings  and  diameters  for  different  kinds  of  cotton, 
with  the  method  of  measuring  distances  from  center  to 
center  of  rolls;  they  will  vary,  however,  according  to  condi- 
tions, as  already  stated. 

The  following  settings  for  American  cotton  of  about  1-inch 
staple  are  taken  from  actual  measurements  in  a  mill  making  an 
average  of  32s: 

TABLE  I 


^  t^^ 

Distance  Between  Centers 

0)  OS 
4,  t-  O 

o 

Front 
and  Second 

Second 
and  Third 

Third 
and  Back 

First  drawings    . 

411 

68  grains 

IT^ 

nches 

li    inches 

It  inches 

Second  drawings 

4ir 

68  grains 

lA 

nches 

if    inches 

if  inches 

Third  drawings  . 

411 

68  grains 

if 

nches 

if   inches 

if  inches 

Stubbing   .... 

I(J2 

68  grains 

li 

nches 

if    inches 

Intermediate    .    . 

M3 

.57-hank 

II^ 

nches 

if    inches 

Roving 

ii6 

i.6i-hank 

li 

nches 

iT%  inches 

Spinning   .... 

125 

5-hank 

111;  inches 

if    inches 

Each  case  of  roll  setting  must  be  judged  by  its  require- 
ments. Table  I  shows  ordinary  settings  on  the  inter- 
mediates, roving,  and  spinning,  and  excessively  wide  settings 
on  the  drawing  and  slubber  on  account  of  the  unusually 
heavy  sliver  and  high  speed;  but  in  the  mill  in  question, 
after  numerous  experiments  were  made,  it  was  found  that 
under  the  circumstances  the  best  yarn  was  made  with  the 
above  settings.  A  more  ordinary  setting  for  a  60-grain 
sliver,  350  revolutions  per  minute  at  the  drawings,  would  be 
li.  If,  and  1 2"  inches,  with  the  same  cotton. 

21.  Adjustingr  Points. — On  all  the  attenuating  machines 
of  a  cotton-yarn  mill,  adjustments  are  provided  by  which  the 
distance  between  the  rolls  may  be  regulated.  In  Fig.  12,  b  is 
shown  as  one  of  the  roll  stands  that  support  the  rolls,  this 
being  a  stand  for  three  pair  of  rolls.  The  bearing  b^  of  the 
front  roll  is  cast  solid  with  the  main  support  b,  and  con- 
sequently the  front-roll  bearing  cannot  be  moved.     Separate 


22 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


20 


bearings,  which  are  adjustable,  are  provided  for  the  other  two 
lines  of  rolls;  b^  is  the  bearing  for  the  center  line  of  rolls  and 
is  capable  of  sliding  on  b,,  while  ^3,  which  is  the  bearing  for 


Fig.  12 


Fig. 13 


the  third  line,  can  sHde  on  b^.  Fig.  13  shows  a  roll  stand  that 
differs  somewhat  from  that  shown  in  Fig.  12,  although  the 
letters  of  reference  will  be  found  to  apply  to  the  same  parts. 


§20 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


23 


When  it  is  desired  to  set  the  rolls,  the  set  of  top  rolls  that 
is  at  the  end  of  the  frame  is  removed,  together  with  other 
sets  of  top  rolls  at  frequent  intervals,  usually  at  every  other 
stand.  The  screws  b^  that  secure  the  bearings  of  the  bottom 
rolls  are  then  loosened  throughout  the  length  of  the  frame. 
The  required  distance  between  the  bites  of  the  rolls  should 
next  be  determined,  and  from  this,  together  with  the 
diameter  of  the  rolls,  the  distance  between  the  bosses  of 
each  pair  may  be  learned,  after  which  gauges  of  the  correct 
thickness  are  selected.  For  example,  suppose  that  the  dis- 
tance between  the  centers  of  the  front  and  second  bottom 
rolls  is  to  be  1  inch,  and  the  front  roll  is  1  inch  in  diameter 


^  r^"' 


kica 


D 


[/ 


and  the  second  roll  i  inch.  Then  the  space  occupied  by  the 
rolls  themselves  would  be  the  sum  of  one-half  of  the  diameter 
of  each  roll,  which  is  tV  -f  A,  or  if.  Since  the  distance  from 
center  to  center  is  to  be  1  inch,  the  space  between  the 
bosses  of  the  rolls  would  be  1  —  il,  or  tg  inch;  therefore,  a 
-iVinch  gauge  would  be  selected  in  setting  these  rolls. 
These  gauges  are  inserted  between  the  bosses  of  the  rolls, 
after  which  the  rolls  are  drawn  up  until  the  gauge  sets 
snugly,  when  the  binding  screws  b^  are  tightened.  This 
operation  is  repeated  at  every  stand  where  top  rolls  have 
been  removed.  The  gauges  used  are  generally  made  of 
wood,  brass,  or  iron  and  are  about  2  inches  long,  i  inch 
wide,  and  of  various  thicknesses,  in  order  to  suit  the  work. 

22.  Cap  Bars. — The  top  rolls  have  their  bearing  on  the 
bottom  rolls  and  are  held  in  position  by  ap  arrangement  of 
cap  bars,  one  of  which  is  shown  in  Fig.  14.  The  cap  bars 
are  constructed  in  such  a  manner  that  the  top  rolls  may  be 


24  DRAWING  ROLLS  §20 

removed  easily,  it  also  being  possible  to  readily  turn  the  cap 
bars  away  from  the  bottom  rolls. 

The  manner  of  supporting  the  cap  bars  is  shown  in 
Figs.  12,  13,  and  14.  A  shaft  e  runs  lengthwise  of  the  frame 
and  is  supported  either  by  brackets  e^.  Fig.  12,  which  are 
fixed  to  the  roll  stand,  or  by  the  bearing  of  the  back  roll,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  13.  On  this  shaft,  at  various  intervals,  are 
brackets  e.,,  Fig.  14,  that  carry  a  long  finger  e^  shaped  so  as  to 
fit  the  hole  in  the  casting  e^;  on  this  finger  are  the  nebs  e^ 
that  keep  the  top  rolls  in  position.  The  nebs  are  secured 
to  the  finger,  and  as  the  holes  are  made  to  fit  the  peculiar 
shape  of  the  finger,  they  are  prevented  from  turning. 

23.  Setting  Top  Rolls. — When  setting  the  top  rolls,  it 
is  usual  to  have  all  the  rolls  in  position  and  by  using  the 
correct  gauges  to  set  these  rolls  so  that  they  will  come 
directly  over  the  bottom  rolls.  In  order  to  move  the  top 
rolls  so  that  they  will  occupy  the  correct  position,  it  is 
simply  necessary  to  loosen  the  screws  that  hold  the  nebs, 
after  which  the  nebs  may  be  moved  to  any  desired  position. 
In  some  cases  it  is  the  practice  to  insert  the  gauges  between 
the  nebs,  although  this  practice  is  not  to  be  recommended, 
since  if  the  nebs  are  not  of  the  same  thickness,  the  rolls  will 
not  be  properly  in  line. 

In  connection  with  Fig.  13  it  should  be  noted  that  with 
the  stands  constructed  in  the  manner  shown  in  this  figure, 
the  bearings  for  the  back  top  roll  are  moved  together 
with  the  bearings  for  the  bottom  back  roll;  consequently, 
when  the  bottom  back  roll  is  set,  the  top  back  roll  will 
always  be  in  its  correct  position.  This  is  the  more  modern, 
and  is  usually  considered  the  better,  arrangement. 


TOP-ROI.L  WEIGHTING 

24.  In  order  to  maintain  a  grip  on  the  fibers,  the  top 
rolls  must  have  a  constant  pressure  on  the  bottom  rolls. 
The  pressure  of  the  top  roll  on  the  bottom  roll  is  maintained 
by  means  of  weights,  light  weights  being  applied  to  slow- 
running  frames  and  heavier  ones  to  frames  where  the  rolls 


§20  DRAWING  ROLLS  25 

run  at  high  speeds,  which  cause  considerable  vibration  and 
tend  to  jerk  the  top  rolls.  The  system  of  weighting  is 
classed  as  follows:  (1)  Self-iveighting;  (2)  dead-weighting, 
which  may  be  subdivided  into  {a)  direct  dead- weighting  and 
{b)  weighting  with  the  intervention  of  springs;  (3)  lever- 
weighting,  which  may  again  be  subdivided  into  {a)  direct 
weighting  and  {b)  weighting  by  saddles  and  bridles. 


SELF-WEIGHTING 

25.  The  method  known  as  self-weighting  consists  of 
having  the  top  roll  heavy  enough  to  maintain  the  necessary 
pressure  on  the  fiber,  and  is  used  on  the  center  and  back 
rolls  of  fine  roving  frames,  spinning  frames,  and  mules 
intended  for  very  fine  spinning.  The  middle  roll,  which  is 
usually  \  inch  in  diameter,  weighs  from  2  to  4  ounces,  while 
the  back  roll,  which  is  from  2  to  2i  inches  in  diameter, 
weighs  from  \\  to  2i  pounds.  This  method  is  shown  in 
Fig.  11,  where  the  back  and  middle  rolls  of  one  of  the  jack- 
frames,  the  mule,  and  the  spinning  frame  are  self-weighted. 

Since  in  spinning  fine  numbers  the  rolls  generally  have  a 
slow  speed,  this  amount  of  weighting  is  sufficient  to  give  the 
necessary  grip  on  the  fibers.  The  method  of  self-weighting, 
however,  cannot  be  applied  to  all  classes  of  work,  since, 
where  the  work  is  coarse  and  the  top  rolls  require  consider- 
able weight,  if  they  were  made  large  enough  to  give  this 
weight,  they  would  be  too  bulky  for  use.  On  coarse  work 
the  rolls  revolve  rapidly  and  the  vibration  caused  would 
prevent  satisfactory  use  of  self-weighting  systems. 


DEA1>-^VEIGIIT1NG 

26.  The  method  known  as  dead-weigliting  is  shown  in 
Fig.  15.  The  rolls  a,  b  illustrate  direct  dead-weighting,  one 
weight  serving  for  one  roll;  but  by  using  a  saddle  d.,  and 
bridle  ^3,  as  shown  in  Fig.  16,  one  weight  can  be  used  for 
two  rolls,  which  reduces  the  number  of  weights  on  a  machine. 

The  system  of  dead-weighting  in  which  a  spring  inter- 
venes between  the  weight  hook  and  weight  is  shown  on  the 


26 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


§20 


rolls  c,  d.  Fig.  15.  The  object  of  adopting  this  construction 
is  to  have  the  spring  tend  to  neutralize  the  effect  of  any 
slight  shock  that  the  roll  may  receive 

6. 


Fig.  15 


If,  in  the  case  of  Fig.  15,  the  rolls  are  single-boss  rolls» 
then  there  will  be  a  weight  similar  to  w  suspended  from 
each  end  of  each  top  roll;   consequently,   if  the  weight  is» 


§20 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


27 


say,    14   pounds,    each    top    roll    will    exert    a    pressure    of 
28  pounds  on  the  bottom  roll.     If  the  top  rolls  are  double-boss 


Fig.  16 


rolls,  there  will  be  one  weight  suspended  from  the  center  of 
the  roll,  each  boss  having  a  bearing  point   on   the  bottom 


28 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


20 


roll,  and  if  the  weight  zv  weighs,  say,  20  pounds,  each  boss 
will  exert  a  pressure  of  10  pounds  on  the  bottom  roll. 

In  the  case  of  Fig.  16,  the  weight  w  will  be  distributed 
somewhat  differently.  If  the  top  rolls  are  single-boss  rolls, 
there  will  be  weights  similar  to  7v  at  each  end  of  the  roll,  and 
if  these  weights  weigh,  say,  20  pounds,  there  will  be  a  pres- 
sure of  10  pounds  on  the  end  of  each  top  roll,  giving  a  total 


Fig.  17 

pressure  of  20  pounds  on  each  roll.  If  the  top  rolls  are 
double-boss  rolls  and  the  weight  is,  say,  30  pounds,  then  there 
will  be  a  pressure  at  the  center  of  each  roll  of  15  pounds,  caus- 
ing each  boss  of  one  top  roll  to  exert  a  pressure  of  7i  pounds 
on  the  bottom  roll. 


LEVER-WEIGHTING 

27.  The  principle  of  lever-^v^eigliting  is  that  of 
exerting  pressure  by  means  of  a  weight  acting  through 
a  lever.     By  this  means  a  smaller  weight  may  be  used  and 


§20 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


29 


the  same  pressure  obtained  as  when  a  larger  weight  is 
employed  in  the  sj-stem  of  dead-weighting.  The  pressure 
can  also  be  very  readily  varied  by  moving  the  weight  on 
the  lever. 

A  method  of  lever-weighting  is  shown  in  Fig.  17.  A  sad- 
dle d^  has  a  bearing  at  its  forward  part  on  the  top  front  roll, 
and  also  another  bearing  on  the  smaller  saddle  at  g.  The 
small  saddle  has  bearings  on  the  back  and  center  rolls. 
Suspended  from  d.  is  a  rod  d^  linked  to  a  rod  j.  This  rod 
passes  through  a  hole  in  the  roll  beam  and  supports  the 
lever  //,  which  is  fulcrumed 
under  the  roll  beam  at  /.  The 
lever  //  carries  the  weight  u\ 
the  position  of  which  may  be 
varied  and  thus  different  pres- 
sures obtained  on  the  rolls,  as  is 
desired.  The  method  of  obtain- 
ing the  amount  of  pressure 
exerted  at  any  point  by  lever- 
weighting  is  somewhat  more 
complicated  than  in  the  case  of 
dead-weighting,  and  in  order  to  make  this  somewhat  clearer, 
reference  is  made  to  Fig.  18,  together  with  the  following 
data:  The  weight  of  w  is  4  pounds;  the  distance  of  iv  f  is 
Ti  inches;  p{,\  inch;  j  k,  f  inch;  /: /,  If  inches;  /w,  \  inch; 
myi,  \\  inches;  /;/,  1  inch;  j  I,  2  inches.  The  total  pressure 
will  equal 
Weight  X  Ti!'  /  _  4  X  7i 


Fig.  18 


P{ 


40  pounds,  total  weight  on  all  rolls. 


Part  of  this  40  pounds  will  be  distributed   on  j  and   the 
remainder  on  the  point  g. 
The  pressure  on  j  will  equal 
/^/X  40  ^  11  X  40 
jl  2 


=  271  pounds 


The  pressure  at  g  equals  40  —  272  =  12i  pounds,  or  the 
pressure  at  g  will  equal 


y/feX40^f  X40 
jl  2 


=  \1\  pounds 


30 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


§20 


The  pressure  at  n  will  equal 
/  m  X  12i      i  X  12i 


=  4.166  pounds 


m  n  li 

The  pressure  at  m  will  equal  12^  —  4.166  =  8.33  pounds,  or 

the  pressure  at  m  will  equal 

/^Xm      IX  12i      „^_  , 

=  — TT —  =  8.33  pounds 

m  n  \^ 

28.  In  Fig.  19,  a  system  sometimes  used  for  weighting 
the  rolls  of  a  spinning  frame  is  shown.  This  method  differs 
but    slightly   from    that    shown    in    Figs.    17   and    18.     The 


Fig.  19 

weight  w  is  supported  by  the  lever  //,  which  at  the  point  /  is 
inserted  in  a  hook  fastened  to  the  roll  beam.  Connected  to 
the  lever  h  is  a  hook  d^,  that  is  supported  by  the  saddle  d^, 
which  has  a  bearing  on  the  front  top  roll  and  on  the  saddle  g. 
The  saddle^  has  a  bearing  on  the  back  and  middle  top  rolls. 

29.  Metallic  rolls  do  not  require  so  much  weight  as  com- 
mon rolls;  usually  a  weight  of  about  14  pounds  is  used  on 
each  end  of  the  four  rolls  of  a  drawing  frame,  although  this 
sometimes  differs  and  a  weight  of  10  pounds  is  used  for  the 
front,  12  for  the  second,  14  for  the  third,  and  16  for  the 
fourth.      In  experimental  cases,  metallic  rolls  have  been  run 


§20  DRAWING  ROLLS  31 

with  as  low  a  weight  as  6  pounds.  Some  prefer  to  have  the 
heaviest  weight  on  the  front  roll,  claiming  that  as  this  roll 
revolves  at  the  highest  speed  it  therefore  requires  more 
weight  to  keep  it  steady.  The  following  list  of  weights, 
which  was  taken  from  machines  running  medium  counts, 
will  give  a  general  idea  of  the  relative  weights  on  the  rolls 
in  different  machines,  but  it  should  be  understood  that  the 
weights  given  here  will  serve  simply  as  a  guide,  since  the 
weights  that  are  used  are  largely  dependent  on  the  ideas  of 
the  builder,  the  ideas  of  the  purchaser,  the  construction  of 
the  machine,  and  the  class  of  work  to  be  run. 

On  the  drawing  frames  using  single-boss  metallic  rolls 
there  was  a  weight  of  18  pounds  on  each  end  of  the  front 
rolls,  giving  a  total  of  36  pounds  pressure  on  the  front  roll. 
The  second  roll  carried  16-pound  weights,  giving  a  total  of 
32  pounds.  The  third  and  back  rolls  carried  14-pound 
weights,  giving  a  pressure  of  28  pounds  on  each  roll.  All 
of  these  were  dead-weighted. 

On  the  drawing  frames  using  single-boss  common  rolls  the 
front  rolls  carried  22-pound  weights  at  each  end,  the  second 
rolls  20-pound  weights,  the  third  rolls  18-pound  weights,  and 
the  back  rolls  16-pound  weights,  giving  a  total  weight  of 
44,  40,  36,  and  32  pounds  on  the  front,  second,  third,  and 
back  rolls,  respectively. 

On  the  slubbers  using  double-boss  common  rolls  the  front 
rolls  were  dead-weighted  and  carried  a  weight  of  12  pounds, 
thus  giving  a  pressure  of  6  pounds  on  each  boss.  The 
middle  and  back  rolls  supported  a  saddle  from  the  center  of 
which  was  suspended  a  12-pound  weight,  giving  a  pressure 
of  3  pounds  on  each  boss  of  both  middle  and  back  rolls. 

On  the  first  intermediates  using  double-boss  common  rolls 
the  front  rolls  were  dead-weighted  and  carried  a  weight  of 
16  pounds,  giving  a  pressure  of  8  pounds  on  each  boss  of  the 
roll.  The  middle  and  back  rolls  carried  a  saddle  from  which 
was  suspended  an  18-pound  weight,  thus  giving  a  pressure 
of  4i  pounds  on  each  boss  of  both  rolls. 

The  second  intermediates  using  double-boss  common  rolls 
were  dead-weighted  throughout  and  carried  weights  of  18, 


32  DRAWING  ROLLS  §20 

14,  and  12  pounds  on  the  front,  middle,  and  back  rolls, 
respectively,  thus  giving  a  pressure  of  9  pounds  on  each  boss 
of  the  front  rolls,  7  pounds  on  each  boss  of  the  middle  rolls, 
and  6  pounds  on  each  boss  of  the  back  rolls. 

On  the  roving  frames  the  front  rolls  were  common  double- 
boss  rolls,  being  dead-weighted,  and  carrying  a  weight  of 
8  pounds,  thus  giving  a  pressure  of  4  pounds  on  each  boss. 
The  middle  and  back  rolls  were  self-weighted. 


weight-reijIeving  motions 

30.  It  is  necessary  to  use  every  precaution  to  keep  a 
leather-covered  roll  as  perfectly  round  and  smooth  as 
possible,  in  order  to  insure  good  work;  and,  for  this  reason, 
weiglit-relieving  motions  are  applied  so  that  there  will 
not  be  any  pressure  on  the  rolls  when  they  are  to  stand  idle 
for  any  considerable  length  of  time.  If  the  pressure  were 
maintained  on  the  rolls  during  the  time  that  they  were 
stopped,  a  depression  would  be  formed  at  the  point  where 
the  steel  roll  was  in  contact  with  the  leather  of  the  top  roll, 
because  of  the  yielding  properties  of  the  leather,  and  when 
the  machine  was  again  started  there  would  be  a  slightly 
eccentric  running  of  the  roll,  which  would  produce  irregu- 
larity in  the  work. 

In  some  cases  where  there  is  not  a  weight-relieving 
motion,  it  is  necessary  to  remove  the  hooks  from  each 
weight  by  hand.  An  arrangement  that  makes  this  operation 
easier  and  more  simple  is  shown  in  Fig.  15.  The  weights  w 
are  suspended  from  the  rolls,  as  shown,  each  weight  having 
a  hole  in  it  through  which  an  eccentric  ^  passes.  By  turning 
the  handle  s^  until  that  part  of  the  eccentric  which  is  farthest 
from  the  center  of  the  shaft  that  supports  it  is  at  the  top, 
the  weights  will  rest  on  the  eccentric,  and  thus  the  pressure 
on  the  rolls  is  relieved.  With  this  method  an  eccentric  must 
be  provided  for  each  set  of  weights. 

An  arrangement  by  which  two  eccentrics  serve  for  a 
number  of  sets  of  weights  is  shown  in  Fig.  16,  and  consists 
of  bars  e,  d  that   run  lengthwise   of   the  machine  and  pass 


^20 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


33 


through  holes  ih  the  hooks  /,  /,  supporting  the  weights  w. 
These  bars  have  a  bearing  at  each  end  on  an  eccentric  5  and 
thus,  by  turning  the  eccentric  by  means  of  the  handle  s,,  the 
bars,  and  consequently  all  of  the  weights  supported  by  the 
hooks  through  which  the  bars  pass,  are  raised. 


CLEARERS  AND  TRAVERSE  MOTIONS 


CLEARERS 

31.  In  order  to  prevent  the  accumulation  of  dirt  and 
fibers  on  the  rolls,  what  are  known  as  eleai-crs  are  utilized. 
The  construction  of  a  clearer  used  on  railway  heads,  drawing 

A:, 


Fig.  20 


frames,  and  fly  frames  is  shown  in  Fig.  20.  It  consists  of  a 
piece  of  flannel  a  supported  from  a  piece  of  wood  /;  by 
means  of  rods  r,  and  spikes  c;  b  is  held  in  position  by  means 
of    screws,    similar    to  h,   which  pass   through   a   slot  in  a 


34  DRAWING  ROLLS  §  2C5 

bracket  £-  attached  to  the  roll  cover  k.  By  this  means  the 
wood  b  may  have  a  vertical  movement.  As  the  flannel  is 
pressed  against  the  rolls  by  the  weight  of  the  wood,  the 
rolls  are  effectively  cleaned.  If  clearers  of  this  type  are  not 
cleaned  as  often  as  necessary,  the  clearer  waste  will  gather 
at  the  points  <?,,  e.  and  eventually  drop  into  the  cotton  that  is 
passing  through,  causing  bad  work  at  the  next  process. 

When  cleaning  by  hand,  it  is  necessary  to  lift  the  cover, 
which  is  hinged  at  /,  and  remove  the  waste;  to  obviate  this 
operation,  self-cleaning  clearers  are  sometimes  attached. 
There  are  several  styles  of  self-cleaning  clearers;  one  that 
is  being  used  to  a  very  large  extent  consists  of  an  endless 
apron  of  very  heavy  cloth  that  passes  around  two  rolls,  one 
of  these  rolls  being  situated  above  the  back  roll  of  the  frame, 
while  the  other  is  situated  over  the  front  roll.  The  back 
roll  of  this  clearer  motion  is  driven  by  gearing  and  has  a 
very  rough  surface,  thus  causing  the  cloth  to  revolve,  while 
the  front  roll  is  driven  by  the  friction  of  the  cloth  passing 
round  it.  These  rolls  are  so  placed  that  the  cloth  will  press  on 
the  top  rolls  of  the  frame,  thus  cleaning  them  while  the  cloth 
itself  is  cleaned  mechanically  by  a  comb. 

Another  type  of  clearer  is  shown  beneath  the  rolls  in 
Fig.  20.  This  type  may  be  applied  underneath  at  the  spaces 
between  any  two  lines  of  rolls,  as  it  is  on  drawing  frames. 
On  fly  frames,  however,  it  is  usually  put  between  the  first 
and  second  rolls  only.  It  consists  of  a  piece  of  wood  /  as 
long  as  the  box  of  each  frame.  Two  faces  of  the  clearer  are 
curved  in  such  a  manner  that  they  correspond  with  the 
curvature  of  the  rolls.  This  clearer  is  covered  with  flannel 
and  is  held  in  position  by  two  pieces  of  lacing,  one  at  each 
end,  similar  to  w.  These  lacings  pass  over  the  front  roll 
of  the  two  with  which  the  clearer  is  in  contact,  and 
have  weights  n  at  their  ends.  By  this  means  the  clearer 
maintains  a  pressure  on  the  rolls  and  consequently  cleans 
them. 

Another  style  of  clearer  used  underneath  the  rolls  has  a 
wooden  roll  covered  with  coarse  woolen  cloth,  and  is  held 
against  the  bottom  roll  by  springs.     This  clearer  is  revolved 


§20 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


35 


by  frictional  contact  with  the  roll,  and  thus,  whenever  an  end 
breaks,  the  clearer  winds  the  cotton  on  itself  and  prevents 
its  getting  on  the  steel  roll.  This  type  of  clearer  is  applied 
underneath  the  front  roll. 


TRA AVERSE   MOTIONS 

32.  Traverse  motions  in  one  form  or  another  are  used 
in  connection  with  leather-covered  drawing  rolls,  and  have 
for  their  objects  economy  in  roll  leather  and  better  quality  of 
product.  If  the  strand  of  cotton  were  permitted  to  pass 
between  the  leather  roll  and  steel  roll  at  one  point  continually, 
a  groove  would  form  around  the  rolls,  and  consequently  they 
would  soon  lose  their  grip  on  the  fibers.  To  prevent  this,  a 
motion  is  applied  xvhereby  the  sliver,  or  roving,  is  given  a 
traversing  motion  along  the  boss  of  the  roll.  In  its  simplest 
form  the  motion  usually  consists  of  a  traverse  bar  /,  Fig.  21, 


mg^ 


that  carries  guides  or  is  drilled  with  small  holes  t^  through 
which  the  strand  of  cotton  is  passed  before  entering  the  back 
rolls.  Attached  to  the  traverse  bar  is  a  connecting-rod  e  that 
is  connected  to  the  crank-stud  c,.  The  crank-stud  is  con- 
nected to  a  casting  /,  which  is  connected  to  the  worm-gear  c 
by  the  stud  A  and  nut  /.,  thus  causing  r,  to  be  eccentric  with 
reference  to  c.  The  worm-gear  is  on  a  short  shaft  and  is 
driven  by  the  worm  r,  on  the  back  roll.  As  the  back  roll 
revolves  it  gives  a  traversing  motion  to  the  traverse  bar  / 
by  means  of  the  worm-drive  and  crank-arrangement. 


36 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


§20 


Most  traverse  motions  are  supplied  with  some  means  of 
lengthening-  or  shortening  the  length  of  the  traverse.  With 
the  construction  shown  in  Fig.  21  it  is  possible,  by  loosening 
the  nut  /.  and  swinging  the  casting  /  on  the  stud  A,  to  bring 
e^  nearer  to  or  farther  away  from  the  center  of  the  gear  c, 
thus  decreasing  or  increasing,  respectively,  the  length  of  the 
traverse. 

In  some  cases  the  traverse  bar  has  attached  to  it  a  lever 
carrying  a  stud  that  is  kept  in  contact  with  a  heart-shaped 
cam  by  means  of  a  spring.  The  cam  receives  motion  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  crank  described,  and  as  it  revolves  it 
forces  the  lever  in  one  direction  during  a  part  of  its  revolu- 
tion, while  the  spring  serves  to  draw  the  lever  in  the  opposite 


Fig.  22 


direction  during  the  remainder  of  the  cam's  revolution.  The 
crank-arrangement  is  more  positive  than  the  cam  and  spring, 
but  at  the  points  of  change,  or  where  the  crank-stud  <?i  is  at 
its  dead  centers,  the  motion  of  the  traverse  guide  is  slower 
than  at  any  other  part  of  the  traverse,  thus  causing  the 
strand  of  cotton  to  produce  a  greater  amount  of  wear  at  these 
places.  The  extent  of  the  traverse  given  with  a  cam-  or 
crank-motion  is  shown  in  Fig.  22  (a). 

The  main  principle  of  construction  that  has  been  sought  in 
traverse  motions  is  to  have  a  variable  traverse;  that  is,  to 
have  different  lengths  of  sweep  so  that  the  traverse  will  not 
be  continually  changing  at  the  same  point  on  the  circum- 
ference of  the  roll.     An  arrangement  that  gives  a  variable 


20 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


37 


traverse  similar  to  that  shown  in  Fig-.  22  {b)  is  shown  in 
Fig.  23,  in  which  {a)  is  a  front  view  and  (^)  an  end  view, 
partly  in  section. 

The  back  roll  t^  carries  a  worm  4  driving  two  worm-gears 
c,  c,  that  vary  slightly  in  the  number  of  teeth.  Forming  a 
part  of  the  worm-gear  c^  is  an  eccentric  d^,  while  the  eccentric 

4,  ,t. 


d  is,  di  part  of  the  worm-gear  c.  The 
worm-gears  c,Cy  are  mounted  on  a 
stud  c,  that  is  supported  by  a  bracket 
attached  to  the  roll  beam.  Connected 
to  the  eccentric  ^  is  a  lever  /  that  is 
attached  at  its  other  end  to  a  stud  h^ 
connected  to  the  lower  end  of  the 
bracket  g.  The  eccentric  d^  also  car- 
ries a  lever  e,  which  is  connected  to 
a  stud  h  that  is  also  carried  by  the 
bracket^.  The  bracket^  is  connected 
by  means  of  the  stud  g,  to  the  trav- 
erse bar  /.  As  the  worm-gears  <r,  c^ 
have  different  numbers  of  teeth  and 
are  driven  by  the  same  worm,  the  two  eccentrics  that  form 
part  of  these  two  worm-gears  will  have  their  relative  posi- 
tions changed;  thus,  at  one  time  the  eccentrics  may  coincide, 
in  which  case  the  levers  e,  /  will  be  moving  the  bracket  g  in 
the  same  direction  and  the  traverse  rod  t  will  be  receiving 
its  shortest  traverse.     At  another  time  the  highest  parts  of 


38 


DRAWING  ROLLS 


§20 


the  eccentrics  d,  d,  will  be  brought  diametrically  opposite 
each  other,  in  which  case  the  lever  e  will  be  moving  in  one 
direction  as  far  as  possible,  while  /  will  be  moving  in  the 
other,  resulting  in  the  traverse  guide  receiving  its  maximum 
traverse. 

9 


The  slot  g^  in  the  bracket  g  allows  this  bracket  to  be 
raised  or  lowered,  thus  shortening  or  lengthening  the 
extreme  length  of  the  traverse,  as  may  be  desired.  When 
the  traverse  guides  t^  are  at  the  center  of  the  boss  of  the  rolls, 


Fig.  25 


the  bracket  g  should  be  exactly  perpendicular,  and  in  order  to 
accomplish  the  settings  of  the  different  parts,  slots  are  pro- 
vided in  the  bracket^  at  the  points  where  the  studs  //,  h^  are 
situated,  thus  allowing  the  bracket  to  be  placed  in  its  correct 
position. 


§20  DRAWING  ROLLS  39 

33.  Doiible-Bai"  Traverse  Motion. — With  the  traverse 
motions  just  described,  it  will  be  observed  that  as  the  cotton 
is  passing  through  the  guides  /.,  Fig.  24,  the  strand  nearest 
the  neck^,  or  where  the  weight  is  applied,  is  under  a  greater 
pressure  than  the  strand  under  the  opposite  boss,  owing  to 
the  distance  from  the  weight.  It  will  be  seen  then  that  there 
is  only  one  point  in  the  traverse  where  the  weight  is  equally 
divided  between  the  two  strands;   viz.,  the  center. 

To  overcome  this,  a  motion  known  as  the  double-bar 
traverse  motion,  Fig.  25,  has  been  introduced.  With  this 
motion  the  strands  under  each  boss  are  operated  by  separate 
bars  rt,  «!,  which  move  all  the  strands  of  cotton  toward  the 
necks  of  the  rolls  at  the  same  time,  thus  maintaining  an 
equal  distance  between  all  the  strands  and  the  necks  of  the 
rolls  and  causing  the  weight  to  be  equally  divided  at  every 
point  of  the  traverse. 

SCOURING     ROLLS 

34.  The  cleanliness  of  the  fluted  rolls,  as  well  as  the 
leather-covered  rolls,  is  an  important  question,  since  if  the 
dirt  and  other  foreign  matter  that  collects  in  the  flutes  and 
bearings  of  the  rolls  is  not  removed,  considerable  waste  and 
consequent  loss  of  production  and  bad  work  will  result  from 
the  cotton  adhering  to  and  winding  around  the  rolls  instead 
of  being  delivered  at  the  front  of  the  machine.  The  cotton 
collecting  in  the  bearings  of  the  rolls  will  also  cause  the 
rolls  to  bind,  and  thus  wear  out  the  bearings  and  cause  con- 
siderable strain  on  the  gearing  that  drives  the  rolls. 

The  rolls  should  be  removed  periodically  from  the  dif- 
ferent machines  in  order  to  properly  clean  the  bearings, 
necks,  and  fluted  parts,  which  operation  is  known  as 
scouring.  The  time  for  scouring  depends  largely  on  the 
amount  of  work  and  the  kind  and  speed  of  the  machine,  as 
well  as  on  other  circumstances.  The  rolls  in  machines 
used  for  carded  work  should  be  scoured  oftener  than  those 
used  for  combed  work,  and  those  for  coarse  work  oftener 
than  those  for  fine  work.  The  rolls  of  the  drawing  frame 
should  be  scoured  about  once  a  month,  while  those  of  the 


40  DRAWING  ROLLS  §20 

roving  frame  require  scouring:  only  about  every  6  months. 
The  times  of  cleaning  the  rolls  of  the  frames  intervening 
between  the  drawing  frame  and  roving  frame  should  be  in 
proportion  to  the  amount  and  quality  of  the  work  that  they 
are  producing. 

When  the  bottom  rolls  are  removed  for  scouring  great 
care  should  be  taken,  especially  when  the  rolls  are  very  long, 
that  they  do  not  become  bent  or  strained,  since  if  they  are 
replaced  in  the  machine  in  this  condition  they  are  liable  to 
bind  in  the  stands  and  produce  cut  work.  In  removing  the 
rolls  two  or  three  persons  are  usually  employed  in  lifting 
them  from  their  bearings  and  placing  them  on  stands, 
horses,  or  brackets  suitable  for  the  purpose. 

After  the  rolls  have  been  removed  they  should  be  rubbed 
with  a  piece  of  card  fillet  in  order  to  remove  any  dirt,  hard 
oil,  or  other  substances  that  may  collect  in  the  flutes.  After 
cleaning  the  roll  in  this  manner  it  should  be  covered  with  a 
paste  made  of  oil  and  whiting  and  thoroughly  scoured  by 
rubbing  with  another  piece  of  card  fillet,  care  being  taken 
not  to  rub  around  the  circumference  of  the  roll  but  length- 
wise, so  that  the  wires  of  the  card  fillet  will  follow  the 
grooves  of  the  flutes  and  clean  them. 

After  this  the  roll  should  be  wiped  with  a  piece  of  dry 
waste,  covered  with  dry  whiting,  in  order  to  thoroughly  dry 
the  flutes  before  the  rolls  are  replaced.  In  some  cases 
dry  whiting  is  used  in  place  of  the  paste.  Care  should  be 
taken  not  to  allow  any  of  the  whiting  to  collect  in  the 
flutes  or  bearings  of  the  roll. 

After  the  rolls  have  been  scoured  they  should  be  examined 
in  order  to  ascertain  if  there  are  any  rough  places;  and  if 
such  are  found  they  should  be  smoothed  by  using  a  piece  of 
pumice  stone,  a  piece  of  very  fine  emery  cloth,  or  a  fine 
fluted  file.  In  most  cases  the  pumice  stone  or  emery  cloth 
will  be  found  sufficient,  and  the  file  should  not  be  used  unless 
absolutely  necessary. 

The  stands  or  bearings  of  the  machine  should  be  thor- 
oughly cleaned  with  a  piece  of  dry  waste  and  examined  to 
ascertain  if  there  are  any  bearings  that  are  badly  worn;    if 


§20  DRAWING  ROLLS  41 

there  are,  they  should  be  replaced,  care  being  taken  that  the 
new  ones  do  not  stand  higher  than  the  others.  If  any  loose 
joints  are  found  in  the  roll,  the  portion  containing  the  same 
should  be  removed  from  the  remainder  and  taken  to  the 
machine  shop  to  be  repaired.  The  same  care  should  be  used 
in  replacing  the  rolls  that  was  taken  in  removing  them. 

It  is  advisable  after  the  rolls  have  been  replaced  to  place 
a  small  portion  of  grease  on  the  necks  of  all  the  rolls  before 
the  top  ones  are  replaced.  This  insures  a  perfect  lubrication 
of  the  bearings  and  lasts  longer  than  oil;  it  also  avoids  the 
necessity  of  frequent  oiling,  although  the  rolls  should  be 
oiled  at  least  once  a  week. 

If  leather-covered  top  rolls  are  used  in  a  machine  these 
should  be  thoroughly  cleaned  and  revarnished  and  the 
bearings  oiled  before  being  replaced,  while  if  metallic  top 
rolls  are  used  they  should  be  cleaned  in  a  manner  similar 
to  the  bottom  rolls. 


RAILWAY  HEADS  AND 
DRAWING  FRAMES 


RAILWAY   HEADS 


INTRODUCTION 

1.  A  machine  in  use  in  some  of  the  older  cotton  mills  of 
the  country  but  fast  passing  into  disuse  is  that  known  as  the 
railway  lieatl.  At  one  time  it  was  the  custom  to  arrange 
stationary  flat  cards  in  sections  of  from  six  to  twelve,  and 
instead  of  having  a  coiler  at  each  card,  as  is  now  customary 
with  the  revolving  fiat  card,  a  long  trough  was  placed  in 
front  of  each  section  of  cards,  so  that  the  sliver  was 
deposited  on  an  apron  in  the  trough,  or  railway,  and  car- 
ried to  the  head  end  of  the  section.  At  this  head  end,  or 
delivery  end,  was  placed  a  machine,  called  a  railway  head, 
from  its  position  at  the  head  of  the  railway,  into  which  the 
slivers  from  the  cards  were  drawn  and  combined  into  one 
sliver.  This  must  not  be  confused  with  a  somewhat  similar 
arrangement  in  mills  making  double-carded  yarns,  by  which 
the  slivers  from  one  section  of  cards  are  combined  into  a 
lap  or  portion  of  a  lap  to  be  recarded.  Both  of  these 
arrangements  are  now  passing  out  of  use,  the  most  popu- 
lar and  most  satisfactory  method  of  preparing  carded  yarns 
being  to  use  the  revolving  flat  card,  at  which  the  sliver  is 
deposited  in  a  can  by  means  of  a  coiler;  the  full  can  is  then 
carried  directly  to  the  back  of  the  first  drawing  frame.  In 
some  cases,  the  sliver  is  taken  from  the  card  to  the  back  of 

For  notice  of  copyright,  see  page  immediately  following  the  title  page 
2  21 


2  ,  RAILWAY  HEADS  §21 

a  railway  head  of  modern  construction,  which  takes  the 
place  of   the  first  drawing  frame. 

The  older  style  of  railway  heads,  which  are  combined 
with  a  section  of  cards,  will  be  only  briefly  described;  but 
a  full  description  will  be  given  of  those  that  are  used 
entirely  separate  from  the  cards.  In  the  older  type,  when 
the  cotton  sliver  leaves  each  card  it  is  delivered  into  a 
trough  on  to  an  endless  apron,  about  12  inches  wide,  that 
consists  of  canvas  covered  with  a  layer  of  rubber.  At 
intervals  along  the  trough  are  sets  of  wooden  rolls,  the 
upper  ones  resting  on  the  cotton  and  condensing  the  slivers, 
while  the  lower  ones  support  the  apron;  both  the  top  and 
bottom  rolls  are  driven  by  friction.  After  passing  the  point 
where  the  last  card  delivers  its  sliver  into  the  trough,  all 
the  slivers  pass  between  two  solid  steel  rolls,  which  con- 
dense the  slivers  into  a  still  more  compact  mass;  these  rolls 
are  positively  driven  and  the  lower  roll  drives  the  apron. 
The  assembled  slivers,  after  leaving  the  apron,  form  a  com- 
pressed sheet  of  cotton,  thicker  in  the  center  than  at  the 
edges,  and  pass  to  the  back  roll  of  the  railway  head.  The 
slivers  are  delivered  into  the  trough  in  such  a  manner  that 
more  will  lie  in  the  center  of  the  apron  than  at  the  edges. 
Thus,  the  whole  of  the  cotton  is  more  liable  to  remain  on 
the  apron  than  if  it  were  as  thickly  distributed  at  the  edges 
as  in  the  center. 

It  is  obvious  that  coilers  and  cans  are  not  needed  at  each 
card,  the  product  from  a  whole  section  of  six,  eight,  ten,  or 
twelve  cards  being  delivered  to  one  railway  head,  which 
deposits  it  in  a  can  about  20  inches  in  diameter.  In  prin- 
ciple this  type  of  railway  head  differs  in  no  way  from  those 
used  at  the  present  time,  and  in  construction  resembles  that 
described  in  Art.  10  and  illustrated  in  Figs.  7,  8,  and  9. 

2.  Objects. — The  objects  of  the  railway  head  are  as 
follows:  (1)  To  even  the  sliver  as  far  as  possible;  (2)  to 
parallelize  the  fibers  of  the  sliver.  The  methods  by  w^hich 
these  objects  are  attained  are:  (1)  doubling,  or  combining 
several  slivers   into  one;    (2)   using  an   evener  attachment; 


§21  AND  DRAWING  FRAMES  3 

(3)   drafting,  which    causes    the    fibers    to   lie   more   nearly 
parallel. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  no  mention  is  made  of  any  cleaning 
action;  in  fact,  in  the  ordinary  layout  of  cotton  mills  the 
cleaning  of  the  fiber  from  impurities  ends  with  the  card. 
This  is  not  always  true,  however,  because  in  mills  making 
very  fine  or  high-grade  yarn  a  cleaning  process,  known  as 
covibing,  is  introduced,  but  this  is  seldom  used  in  mills  making 
any  other  class  of  yarn.  It  may  be  accepted  as  generally  true 
that  any  machine  subsequent  to  carding  is  not  intended  as  a 
cleaning  machine. 

PRINCIPAI.    PARTS  OF  THE   RAILWAY  HEAD 

3.  Front  and  back  views  of  a  railway  head  that  takes  the 
sliver  from  the  cans  filled  at  the  card  are  shown  in  Figs.  1 
and  2,  respectively,  while  Fig.  3  shows  a  plan  view  of  the 
same  machine  with  covers  and  certain  parts  removed.  The 
usual  number  of  cans  placed  at  the  back  of  this  machine 
is  eight,  although  it  is  also  constructed  for  other  numbers. 
Referring  to  Figs.  1,  2,  and  3,  the  slivers  from  the  cans  at  the 
back  of  the  machine  pass  through  the  guides  a,  over  the 
spoons  b,  there  being  one  spoon  to  each  sliver,  and  then  to 
the  back  rolls  c.  The  slivers  are  then  subjected  to  the  drafting 
action  of  four  sets  of  rolls,  and  passing  from  the  front  rolls  r, 
are  combined  into  one  sliver  at  the  trumpet  d,  from  which 
they  pass  to  the  calender  rolls  c,  c^,  through  a  coiler,  and 
into  a  can,  the  coiler  and  can  arrangement  being  very  similar 
to  that  found  at  the  card. 

Railway  heads  are  built  in  two  styles,  single  and  double. 
Fig,  1  illustrating  what  is  known  as  a  single  railway  head. 
Double  railway  heads  are  constructed  much  the  same  as 
single  railway  heads,  the  principal  difference  being  that  in 
the  former  case  two  machines  are  combined  into  a  single 
machine  having  two  heads  and,  consequently,  two  deliveries. 
By  this  means  a  slight  saving  in  floor  space  is  effected,  by 
slightly  reducing  the  length  as  compared  with  two  single 
heads,  and  also  by  reducing  the  number  of  passages  among 
the  machines;  there  is  also  a  slight  economy  of  power. 


RAILWAY  HEADS 


§21 


Fig.  1 


21 


AND  DRAWING  FRAMES 


Fig.  2 


6 


RAILWAY  HEADS 


§21 


Stop-motions  are  provided  on  railway  heads  to  stop  the 
machine  when  a  sliver  breaks  or  runs  out  at  the  back,  when 
the  sliver  breaks  at  the  front,  and  when  the  can  at  the  front 
becomes  too   full.     Since   all  these  motions  are  similar  to 


Fig.  3 

those  serving  the  same  purpose  on  the  drawing  frame,  which 
will  be  fully  described  later,  a  description  of  them  is  not 
given  here.  One  motion,  however,  that  is  found  on  the 
railway  head  but  is  not  applied  to  drawing  frames,  namely, 
the  evener  motion,  is  given  a  complete  description. 


§21  AND  DRAWING  FRAMES 


EVENER    MOTION 

4.  The  object  of  the  evener  motion  of  a  railway  head 
is  to  so  regulate  the  draft  of  the  machine  by  means  of  cones 
that,  in  case  the  total  weight  of  the  slivers  fed  in  a  given 
time  varies,  the  weight  per  yard  of  the  sliver  delivered 
remains  the  same.  These  cones  may  be  placed  either  under 
the  machine  or  at  the  side,  the  latter  method  being  adopted 
in  the  machine  illustrated  in  Figs.  1,  2,  and  3,  where  the  cones 
are  shown  at  e^,e^.  Referring  to  Fig.  1,  the  pulley  /,  on  the 
shaft  /  is  driven  from  the  main  shaft  or  countershaft  of  the 
room.  On  the  shaft /is  another  pulley  Z^,  which  drives  the  tight 
and  loose  pulleys  Z^,  /,.  Both  the  tight  pulley  and  the  cone  ^, 
are  fast  on  the  end  of  the  front  roll  f,,  so  that  the  speed  of 
these  parts  is  the  same  and  constant.  The  cone  ^,,  by  means 
of  a  friction  belt  e,  drives  the  cone  c.  This  friction  belt 
simply  forms  a  ring  that  passes  loosely  around  the  cone  e^, 
and  is  capable  of  being  shifted  from  one  position  to  another 
by  means  of  a  belt  guide.  These  parts  are  more  clearly 
shown  in  Fig.  3.  Fast  to  the  shaft  with  the  cone  e.  is  the 
gear  £',  Figs.  2  and  3,  that  drives  the  back  rolls  c  by  means 
of  suitable  gearing.  The  back  roll  drives  the  third  roll; 
consequently,  the  draft  between  these  two  rolls  is  always  con- 
stant, provided  that  the  gears  on  the  ends  of  these  rolls  are 
not  changed.  This  is  also  true  of  the  front  and  second  rolls, 
since  the  second  roll  is  driven  from  the  front.  Thus  the 
break  draft  in  this  case  is  between  the  second  and  third  rolls, 
so  that  if  the  back  and  third  rolls  are  speeded  faster  or  slower, 
the  break  draft  and,  consequently,  the  total  draft  of  the 
machine  will  be  changed.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
position  of  the  friction  belt  between  the  two  cones  regulates 
the  draft  of  the  machine.  For  example,  if  the  friction  belt 
is  between  the  large  end  of  the  driving  cone  e,  and  the  small 
end  of  the  driven  cone  c,  then  the  cone  e^  will  be  driven  at 
its  maximum  speed,  which  in  turn  will  drive  the  back  rolls  at 
their  highest  speed,  thus  increasing  the  feed  and  diminishing 
the  draft  of  the  machine,  since  the  speed  of  the  front  rolls 
remains  the  same.     On  the  other  hand,  if  the  friction  belt  is 


RAILWAY  HEADS 


21 


shifted  to  the  small  end  of  the  driving  cone  and  the  large  end 
of  the  driven  cone,  then  the  cone  e^  will  be  driven  at  its 
lowest  speed,  which  in  turn  will  drive  the  back  roll  at 
its  lowest  speed,  decreasing  the  amount  of  stock  fed  in  and 
increasing  the  draft.  This  is  the  method  adopted  on  railway 
heads  to  regulate  the  weight  of  the  sliver  delivered;  that  is,  if 
the  weight  fed  is  too  heavy,  the  draft  is  increased,  whereas 
if  the  weight  fed  is  too  light,  the  draft  is  diminished. 

5.     In  all  railway  heads,  the  principle  adopted  to  control 
the  movement-of  the  belt  on  the  cones  consists  of  passing  the 


Fig.  4 

sliver  through  a  trumpet-shaped  guide  attached  to  one  end 
of  a  lever  that  is  pivoted  near  its  center  and  carries  at  its 
other  end  an  adjustable  weight.  This  weight  is  so  placed 
on  the  lever  that  it  exactly  balances  the  downward  pull  of 
the  sliver  when  the  correct  weight  is  passing  through  the 
trumpet;  consequently,  if  the  sliver  is  too  light,  the  trumpet 
rises,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  sliver  is  too  heavy,  the 
trumpet  is  depressed,  the  belt  in  either  case  being  moved  to 
the  correct  position  on  the  cones  to  restore  the  sliver  to  its 
correct  weight. 


§21 


AND  DRAWING  FRAMES 


In  describing  the  method  of  regulating  the  position  of 
the  friction  belt  between  the  cones,  reference  is  made  to 
Fig.  4,  which  shows  a  front  view,  and  Fig.  5,  which  shows  a 
side  view,  partly  in  section,  of  the  parts  of  this  motion;  as 
most  of  these  parts  are  also  shown  in  Fig.  3  and  are  lettered 
the  same  in  each  figure,  reference  should  be  made  to  all  three 
figures.  The  trumpet  d  is  situated  on  a  long  lever  d^  pivoted 
at  d^  and  connected  at  its  rear  end  to  a  rod  //,  which  in  turn  is 
connected  to  a  rod  h,  running  diagonally  across  the  machine 


Fig.  5 


from  back  to  front,  as  shown  by  the  dotted  lines  in  Fig.  3. 
Connected  to  the  rod  //,  at  the  front  of  the  machine  is  a  vertical 
rod  h,,  which  is  connected  to  a  shield  j  that  nearly  covers  a 
gear  /,.  The  top  part  of  this  shield  is  cut  away  in  order  to 
expose  the  teeth  of  the  gear  /,  for  a  short  distance.  The 
weighty,  simply  serves  to  steady  the  shield.  Worked  by  an 
eccentric  -^  is  a  rod  k^  that  extends  across  the  front  of  the 
machine  and  is  connected  at  its  other  end  to  an  upright  rod  X',, 
which  imparts  a  horizontal  oscillating  motion  to  the  pawls  r, ; ,. 


10  RAILWAY  HEADS  §21 

On  the  shaft  with  the  gear  /,  is  a  gear  ^  that  meshes  with  the 
teeth  of  a  rack  Si,  which  carries  the  belt  guide  s^  that  governs 
the  position  of  the  friction  belt  e. 

The  action  of  this  mechanism  is  as  follows.  The  weight  da 
is  so  placed  on  the  lever  d^  that  when  the  correct  weight  of 
cotton  is  passing  through  the  trumpet  d,  the  pawls  r,  r,  rest 
on  the  outside  of  the  shield  j  and  the  friction  belt  is  at  the 
center  of  the  cones.  If,  however,  the  cotton  passing  through 
the  trumpet  is  too  heavy,  the  trumpet  is  pressed  down,  which 
action  will  raise  the  back  end  of  the  lever  d^,  causing  the  rod  /i 
to  be  lifted.  The  rod  /i  in  being  lifted  brings  with  it  the  back 
end  of  the  rod  //,,  thus  causing  its  forward  end  to  be  lowered, 
which  in  turn  lowers  the  rod  //,,  turns  the  shield  to  the  left, 
and  exposes  the  gear  j\  to  the  action  of  the  pawl  r.  As  the 
gear  j\  is  turned,  the  gear  s  is  turned,  moving  the  rack  and 
the  belt  guide  in  such  a  direction  as  to  shift  the  friction  belt 
toward  the  large  end  of  the  driven  cone,  thus  causing  less 
cotton  to  be  fed  in  and  decreasing  the  weight  of  the  sliver 
delivered  at  the  front.  This  allows  the  weight  to  bring  the 
trumpet  and  the  parts  connected  with  it  to  their  normal  posi- 
tions, causing  the  shield  to  again  prevent  the  pawls  from 
acting  on  the  gear/i.  In  case  the  sliver  passing  through  the 
trumpet  at  the  front  of  the  machine  is  too  light,  the  action  of 
the  different  parts  will,  of  course,  be  the  exact  reverse  of  that 
described.  It  is  possible  to  so  alter  the  throw  of  the  eccen- 
tric k  that  the  action  of  the  pawls  will  give  a  change  as  small 
as  2  grain  to  the  yard  for  each  motion  of  the  pawls,  or  as 
great  as  li  grains  to  the  yard. 

6.  The  chief  criticism  that  can  be  made  on  a  railway  head 
is  that  it  does  not  act  on  the  stock  passing  through  it  until  at 
least  a  part  of  the  faulty  stock  it  is  supposed  to  correct  has 
passed  beyond  the  action  of  the  evener  motion.  For  example, 
the  evener  motion  illustrated  here  is  actuated  by  the  trumpet, 
which  is  at  the  front  of  the  machine,  while  it  regulates 
heavy  or  light  work  by  changing  the  speed  of  the  back 
rolls;  consequently,  any  sliver  that  is  heavy  or  light  enough 
to  cause  the  trumpet  to  change  its  position  will  have  already 


§21  AND  DRAWING  FRAMES  11 

passed  into  the  can  before  the  draft  of  the  machine  is 
changed,  and  the  weight  of  that  part  of  the  sHver  at  least 
will  not  be  remedied.  On  some  railway  heads,  the  draft  of  the 
machine  is  changed  by  the  evener  motion  altering  the  speed 
of  the  front  rolls,  but  the  same  criticism  still  holds  good. 

The  evener  motion  of  a  railway  head  is  the  most  difficult 
part  of  the  machine  to  keep  in  good  running  condition,  and 
care  should  be  taken  that  all  of  its  parts  are  always  clean 
and  that  all  the  moving  parts  are  well  oiled  and  carefully 
adjusted.  There  should  be  no  backlash  or  slippage  in  any 
parts  that  will  prevent  the  friction  belt  from  being  immedi- 
ately moved  when  too  heavy  or  too  light  a  sliver  is  passing 
through  the  trumpet.  The  trumpet  should  be  carefully  regu- 
lated so  that  it  will  be  in  the  correct  position  when  the 
desired  weight  of  sliver  is  passing  through,  and  after  it  has 
once  been  balanced,  care  should  be  taken  to  keep  it  in  its 
correct  position. 

In  extreme  cases  in  the  North,  there  is  a  slight  contrac- 
tion in  the  trumpet  during  the  night  in  winter,  which  affects 
the  sliver  slightly  when  first  starting  up  in  the  morning, 
causing  it  to  be  a  little  lighter  than  the  night  before.  This 
trouble  is  not  experienced  in  the  South,  as  the  temperature 
is  more  even. 

7.  The  draft  of  a  railway  head  generally  slightly  exceeds 
the  doublings.  The  gearing  of  the  machine  that  has  been 
illustrated  is  shown  in  Fig.  6,  and  the  draft  between  the 
back  roll  and  calender  roll  would  be  as  follows  with  leather- 
covered  top  rolls,  supposing  the  belt  to  be  at  the  center  of 
the  cones: 

2  X  32  X  24  X  100  X  60 


24  X  45  X  24  X  30  X  If 


=  8.619,  draft 


8.  The  floor  space  occupied  by  a  single  railway  head, 
such  as  has  been  illustrated,  is  3  feet  32  inches  by  5  feet 
3  inches,  while  a  double  railway  head  occupies  6  feet 
41  inches  by  5  feet  3  inches.  These  dimensions  allow  for 
the  space  occupied  by  the  cans  placed  at  the  back  of  the 
machine.      The    type    of   railway   head    illustrated   weighs, 


12 


RAILWAY  HEADS 


§21 


Fig  6 


§21 


AND  DRAWING  FRAMES 


13 


941 


approximately,   1,200    pounds    per    delivery,    while    about 
1   horsepower   is   required   to   drive   three   deliveries. 

9.  The  speed  of  the  front  roll  of  a  railway  head  may  be 
from  300  to  500  revolutions  per  minute  for  a  It-inch  roll. 
The  production  at 
400  revolutions  with 
a  50-grain  sliver,  ma- 
king an  allowance  of 
20  per  cent,  for  stop- 
pages, is  about  165 
pounds  in  a  day  of 
10  hours;  with  a  60- 
grain  sliver,  about 
200  pounds;  and  with 
a  70-grain  sliver, 
about  285  pounds. 

10.  Another  type 
of  evener  motion,  and 
one  that  is  more  com- 
monly found  on  rail- 
way heads,  has  the 
cones  situated  under 
the  roll  beam.  These 
cones,  which  are  con- 
siderably larger  than 
those  in  the  railway 
head  previously  de- 
scribed, are  about  13 
inches  long,  7\  inches 
in  diameter  at  the 
large  end  and  5  inches 
at  the  small  end, 
although  they  vary  in 
different  makes.  Fig.  7  shows  the  gearing  of  the  machine 
under  description.  The  driving  pulley  is  on  the  shaft  with 
the  top  cone,  while  on  the  other  end  of  this  shaft  is  a  gear 
that  drives  the  front  roll  by  means  of  carriers;  consequently, 


OiangeGear 


%- 


Fig. 


14 


RAILWAY  HEADS 


§21 


the  front  roll  is  always  driven  at  a  constant  speed.  On  the 
end  of  the  bottom-cone  shaft  is  a  bevel  gear  driving  another 
bevel  on  an  upright  shaft  that  drives  the  back  roll.  The 
third  and  second  rolls  are  driven  from  the  back  roll. 

The  calender  rolls  and  coiler  are  driven  from  the  front 
roll,  while  the  cone  belt  is  required  to  drive  the  second,  third, 
and  back  rolls.  Since  these  rolls  are  driven  through  the 
cones,  their  speed  will  depend  on  the  position  of  the  cone 
belt  on  the  cones  and,  as  in  this  motion  the  amount  of  fric- 
tion on  the  trumpet  determines  the  position  of  the  belt  on 


Fig.  8 

the  cones,  the  second,  third,  and  back  rolls  are  driven  at 
varying  speeds,  in  order  to  regulate  the  weight  of  the  sliver 
delivered. 

Fig.  8  shows  a  side  view  of  the  trumpet  and  its  connec- 
tions, while  Fig.  9  shows  two  views  of  the  cones  and  their 
connections,  (a)  being  aback  view  and  (d),  a  side  view.  The 
cone  belt  a,  Fig.  9  (a),  is  moved  along  the  cones  b,b, 
by  means  of  a  shipper  fork  c  that  is  cast  with  a  hub  <:,, 
which  contains  a  coarse  thread  to  engage  with  the  thread 
of  the  shipper,  or  evener,  screw  c^.  Any  motion  given  to 
this  screw  will  therefore  alter  the  position  of  the  cone  belt 


§21 


AND  DRAWING  FRAMES 


15 


on  the  cones.  The  evener  screw  has  a  bearing,  or  support, 
in  brackets  attached  to  the  framework  and  carries  at  one  end 
a  small  gear  r,,  Fig.  9  (a)  and  (d),  that  is  driven  by  a  gear  d 
operated  by  the  pawls  e,e,,  which  are  mounted  on  the  arm  e, 
of  a  casting  e..  that  is  pivoted  at  e,.  Another  arm  e.  is  con- 
nected by  means  of  a  crank-motion  to  the  gear  /,  which  is 


Fig.  9 

driven  from  the  gear  ^  on  the  bottom-cone  shaft.  As  the 
gear  /  revolves  it  causes  the  crank-motion  to  impart  an 
oscillating  motion  to  the  bracket,  or  casting,  e„  thus  causing 
the  pawls  to  rock  back  and  forth.  When  the  weight  of  the 
sliver  is  running  even,  the  pawls  are  kept  out  of  contact  with 
the  gear  d  by  means  of  the  guard  plate  d^. 


16  RAILWAY  HEADS  §21 

Referring-  to  Fig.  8,  the  bracket  //,,  that  is  attached  to  the  roll 
beam,  supports  the  trumpet  /?,  which  is  pivoted  at  the  point  h^. 
Thus  the  amount  of  friction  caused  by  the  sliver  passing 
through  the  trumpet  is  allowed  to  regulate  the  relative  posi- 
tion of  the  trumpet  with  regard  to  the  calender  rolls  /,  /,. 
When  the  trumpet  is  drawn  forwards  by  the  friction  of  the 
sliver,  the  lug  h^  on  the  trumpet  comes  in  contact  with  the 
lug  y,  on  the  shaft  /.  As  the  amount  of  friction  increases  or 
decreases,  the  lug  /z,  will  exert  more  or  less  pressure  on  /,, 
thus  giving  a  slight  motion  to  the  shaft  j. 

As  the  arm  k  is  setscrewed  to  the  shaft  j,  any  motion  of 
the  shaft  will  be  imparted  to  the  arm,  thus  causing  the  lower 
end  of  the  arm  to  swing.  A  balance  arm  k.^  fastened  to  k 
by  a  shoulder  k^  carries  balance  weights  k^,  k^.  The  latter, 
which  is  adjustable,  can  be  moved  along  the  arm  k.^  to  regu- 
late the  weight  of  the  sliver  to  be  delivered.  At  its  lower 
end,  the  arm  k  is  connected  to  a  rod  /,  Fig.  9  {b),  that  is  con- 
nected at  the  point  /,  to  the  arm  c/^,  the  latter  being  a  part 
of  the  casting  carrying  the  guard  plate  d^.  When  the  shaft  / 
is  moved  by  the  movement  of  the  trumpet,  it  will  move  the 
lower  end  of  the  arm  k  in  or  out,  and  thus  give  a  rocking 
motion  to  the  casting  carrying  the  guard  plate  d^,  which  is 
pivoted  at  ^3. 

When  the  sliver  is  too  light,  the  trumpet  will  fall  away 
from  the  calender  rolls  and  cause  the  arm  k  to  move  out- 
wards, thus  exposing  the  teeth  of  the  gear  d  to  the  action 
of  the  pawl  ^,,  which  will  cause  the  evener  screw  r,  to  move 
the  belt  to  the  large  end  of  the  top  or  driving  cone,  thus 
increasing  the  amoiuit  of  cotton  fed  in  and  making  the 
sliver  heavier.  When  the  sliver  is  too  heavy,  the  action 
will  be  reversed. 

The  floor  space  occupied  by  a  single  head  of  this  type  is 
about  8  feet  2  inches  by  5  feet  10  inches,  allowing  for  the 
space  occupied  by  the  cans  at  the  back.  The  weight  is 
about  1,150  pounds,  and  I  horsepower  is  required  to  drive  it, 
while  a  double  head  occupies  a  space  of  about  6  feet  3  inches 
by  5  feet  10  inches,  the  weight  being  about  2,000  pounds, 
and  about  \\  horsepower  is  required. 


§21  AND  DRAWING  FRAxMES  17 

Owing  to  the  objects  and  construction  of  railway  heads 
and  drawing  frames  being  somewhat  similar,  the  manage- 
ment of  railway  heads  resembles  that  of  drawing  frames. 
Information  on  this  subject  can  be  obtained  later  in  this 
Section,  where  the  management  of  drawing  frames  is  fully 
dealt  with. 


DRAWING   FRAMES 


INTROD IICTION 

11.  The  drawingr  frame  is  the  last  machine  in  which 
any  extensive  correction  of  the  unevenness  of  the  sliver  takes 
place.  It  usually  follows  the  railway  head  in  mills  that  use 
the  latter  machine,  except  when  the  stock  is  to  be  combed, 
in  which  case  it  follows  the  comber.  In  the  most  common 
arrangement  of  machines,  the  railway  head  is  omitted  and 
the  drawing  frame  follows  the  card,  except  when  combed 
yarn  is  being  made,  when  it  follows  the  comber. 

The  objects  of  the  drawing  frame  are:  (1)  to  lay  the 
fibers  parallel;  (2)  to  correct,  as  far  as  possible,  any  uneven- 
ness in  the  sliver.  These  objects  are  accomplished:  (1)  by 
drafting,  which  by  pulling  the  fibers  past  one  another  tends 
to  make  them  lie  in  a  parallel  position;  (2)  by  doubling, 
Avhich  has  a  tendency  to  even  the  resulting  sliver. 

12.  Number  of  Drawing  Processes. — At  least  two 
processes  of  drawing  will  be  found  in  almost  every  mill; 
that  is,  a  number  of  cans  of  sliver  that  are  made  at  the  front 
of  one  drawing  frame  will  be  placed  at  the  back  of  another 
frame  and  run  into  one  sliver  at  the  front  of  this  second 
frame.  The  number  of  drawing  frames  through  which  the 
cotton  is  passed  is  governed  by  the  class  of  work  to  be  pro- 
duced and  the  number  of  preceding  processes  through  which 
the  cotton  has  passed.  If  the  sliver  comes  direct  from  the 
cards  there  are  usually  two  processes  for  coarse  counts,  three 
for  medium  counts,  and  four  for  fine  counts.  If  the  sliver 
has  passed   through  the   railway  head,   each   of    the  above 


18  RAILWAY  HEADS  §21 

number  of  processes  is  reduced  by  one  process.  If  the 
sliver  has  passed  through  the  sliver-  and  ribbon-lap  machines 
and  the  comber,  there  are  generally  only  two  processes  unless 
for  very  high  counts,  when  three,  and  even  four,  are  used. 

When  four  processes  of  drawing  are  used,  the  machine 
that  receives  the  sliver  first  is  called  the  breaker,  while  the 
others  are  named  in  order  first  intermediate,  second  inierrne- 
diate,  and  finisher.  With  three  they  are  called  breaker,  inter- 
mediate, and  finisher,  while  two  are  designated  as  breaker 
and  finisher.  The  four  processes  are  also  known  as  first, 
second,  third,  and  fourth  drawings. 

13.  Arrangement  of  Drawing  Fi*anies. — Drawing 
frames  are  generally  placed  directly  in  front  of  each  other, 
the  usual  method  being  to  place  the  cans  from  the  card, 
comber,  or  railway  head,  as  the  case  may  be,  at  the  back  of 
the  breaker  drawing  frame,  and  as  the  sliver  is  delivered  at 
the  front,  the  full  cans  are  taken  and  placed  at  the  back  of  the 
next  drawing  frame,  this  system  being  followed  through- 
out the  processes  of  drawing.  Where  the  floor  space  is  limited, 
the  frames  may  be  placed  in  a  line  instead  of  in  front  of  each 
other,  in  which  case  the  alternate  drawing  frames  face  the 
same  way.  For  instance,  where  three  processes  of  drawing 
are  used,  the  cotton  is  passed  through  the  breaker  drawing 
frame  situated  at  the  end  of  the  line.  The  cans  from  the 
breaker  are  then  taken  to  the  intermediate,  which  is  facing 
in  a  direction  opposite  to  that  of  the  breaker  drawing  frame, 
while  the  cans  from  the  intermediate  are  taken  to  the  third 
drawing  frame,  which  is  at  the  other  end  of  the  line  and  has 
its  delivery  on  the  same  side  as  the  delivery  of  the  breaker 
drawing  frame. 

GENERAIi  CONSTRUCTION 

14.  Fig.  10  shows  a  view  of  the  front  of  a  drawing  frame, 
the  construction  of  which  very  closely  resembles  that  of  a 
railway  head,  with  the  exception  that  no  evener  motion  is 
attached.  One  complete  drawing  frame  is  called  a  head. 
Several  heads,  however,  may  be  connected  by  one  shaft  and 


21 


AND  DRAWING  FRAMES 


19 


20  RAILWAY  HEADS  §21 

still  be  called  a  drawing  frame,  or  more  accurately,  a  line  of 
drawings.  Each  head  consists  of  a  number  of  deliveries, 
while  each  delivery  has  its  own  coiler  and  its  own  set  of 
drawing  rolls,  which  receive  a  number  of  slivers  at  the  back, 
subject  them  to  the  desired  draft,  combine  them  into  one 
sliver  at  the  front,  and  deposit  it  in  a  can.  For  example,  if 
four,  six,  or  eight  slivers  side  by  side  are  passed  through 
four  sets  of  rolls  and  combined  at  the  trumpet  at  the  front 
of  the  machine  into  one  sliver,  that  part  of  the  machine  is 
called  a  delivery,  and  a  number,  or  set,  of  these  deliveries 
is  called  a  head. 

A  line  of  drawings  usually  consists  of  three  heads,  while  a 
head  may  contain  from  four  to  eight  deliveries.  Fig.  10 
represents  a  drawing  frame  with  one  head  of  six  deliveries; 
if,  however,  the  lower  shaft  were  extended  and  another 
pulley  mounted  on  it  to  drive  another  set  of  gearing,  which 
in  turn  governed  six  other  deliveries,  it  would  represent 
a  line  of  drawings  consisting  of  two  heads  with  six 
deliveries    each. 

Fig.  11  represents  a  cross-section  of  one  delivery  of  the 
machine  shown  in  Fig.  10;  the  arrows  in  this  figure  indicate 
the  direction  in  which  the  stock  passes  through  the  machine. 
Usually  six  cans  similar  to  a  are  placed  behind  each  delivery, 
each  sliver  passing  through  the  guide  b,  over  the  plate  r,  and 
the  spoon  d,  there  being  one  spoon  for  each  sliver.  The 
slivers  next  pass  over  another  guide  plate  e  and  then  to  the 
four  sets  of  rolls  /,  /,,  Z^,  /a,  where  the  necessary  draft  is 
inserted.  From  these  drawing  rolls  the  slivers  pass  to  the 
trumpet  g,  where  they  are  combined  into  one,  then  through 
the  calender  rolls  //,  //,,  through  the  coiler  tube  z,  and  to  the 
can  y.  The  guide  b  consists  of  a  number  of  fingers,  between 
each  two  of  which  a  separate  sliver  passes;  in  this  manner 
the  sliverr  are  prevented  from  licking  or  splitting.  The 
plate  c  is  highly  polished,  thus  preventing  the  fibers  from 
adhering  to  it,  while  it  also  forms  a  cover  for  the  working 
parts  beneath.  The  guide  e  consists  of  a  casting  carrying 
two  projecting  lugs,  the  distance  between  which  is  about 
equal   to   the  width  of   all   the  slivers   passing   through   the 


22  RAILWAY  HEADS  §21 

delivery.  This  guide  is  secured  to  the  plate  ^,  by  two  screws 
similar  to  e^. 

The  drawing  rolls  are  of  the  ordinary  type;  leather-covered 
top  rolls  are  shown  in  this  illustration,  although  for  coarse 
work  metallic  rolls  are  generally  preferred.  The  length  of 
the  top  rolls  for  each  delivery  varies  from  15  to  18  inches, 
while  each  bottom  roll  is  generally  made  in  one  length  for 
the  whole  head  or,  as  in  more  modern  construction,  in 
sections  pieced  together  so  that  they  revolve  as  one  roll. 
The  top  rolls  are  weighted  in  the  manner  usually  adopted 
for  weighting  leather-covered  rolls  on  drawing  frames.  The 
weighting  arrangement  is  equipped  with  a  weight-relieving 
motion,  as  shown  at  /,  /,,  /j,  h.  The  draft  inserted  in  the 
sliver  by  these  rolls,  though  not  arbitrary,  is  usually  about 
equal  to  the  number  of  doublings,  thus  producing  a  sliver  at 
the  front  of  about  the  same  weight  as  each  end  fed  in  at 
the  back. 

The  trumpet  g  is  supported  by  the  lever  g^  and  derives  its 
name  from  being  trumpet-shaped.  It  occupies  a  nearly 
upright  position,  having  the  smaller  part  of  the  hole  at  the 
delivery  end.  The  sliver  enters  the  larger  end  of  the  trumpet 
and  is  condensed  by  being  drawn  through  the  smaller  part. 
The  calender  rolls  //,  //i  are  smooth  steel  rolls  extending 
along  the  machine  parallel  to  one  another,  and  to  the  front 
rolls.  The  rear  roll  //,  is  about  2  inches  in  diameter,  while 
the  front  one  h  is  slightly  larger.  These  rolls  are  solid  and 
self-weighted,  and  serve  to  condense  the  sliver  and  draw  it 
through  the  trumpet  g.  Their  surface  speed  is  just  sufficient 
to  prevent  any  slackness  of  the  sliver  as  it  comes  from  the 
front  rolls.  The  coiler  connections  at  the  front  of  the  draw- 
ing frame  are  very  similar  to  those  attached  to  the  card. 
The  oblique  tube  /  is  connected  to  the  plate  /,,  which  has 
teeth  on  its  rim  and  is  driven  by  the  gear  ?'=;  the  gear  i^  is 
compounded  with  the  bevel  gear  /a,  which  is  driven  by  the 
bevel  gear  /«  on  the  shaft  i^.  This  shaft  extends  the  entire 
length  of  the  machine  and  has  at  each  delivery  a  gear  similar 
to  z*,  which  drives  the  gears  that  give  motion  to  the  coiler 
for  that  delivery. 


§21  AND  DRAWING  FRAMES 


23 


15.  The  diameters  of  the  cans  into  which  the  sliver  is 
delivered  at  the  front  vary  from  9  to  12  inches,  advancing  by 
inches,  those  generally  used  being  10  inches  in  diameter.  In 
former  years  they  were  made  wholly  of  tin,  but  those  now 
used  are  generally  made  of  a  paper  pulp,  which  has  the 
advantage  of  being  lighter  and  cheaper.  Although  lighter, 
they  are  more  durable  than  the  metal  cans,  and  seldom  show 
the  principal  defects  of  the  latter  type  of  can;  namely,  ragged 
edges  and  loosened  or  detached  bottoms. 


STOP-MOTIONS 

16.  The  principal  parts  of  a  drawing  frame  that  call  for 
a  somewhat  more  detailed  description  are  those  connected 
with  the  various  stop-motions.  If  one  of  the  cans  at  the 
back  should  become  empty  or  if  one  of  the  slivers  should 
break  before  reaching  the  back  rolls  and  the  machine  should 
continue  to  run,  the  reduced  weight  of  the  sliver  delivered  at 
the  front  would  tend  to  produce  unsatisfactory  work  at  the 
later  processes.  As  it  is  of  vital  importance  to  have  the 
sliver  that  comes  from  the  drawing  frame  of  a  uniform 
weight,  devices  are  applied  to  stop  the  machine  when  an  end 
breaks  or  runs  out  at  the  back.  Additional  motions  are  also 
applied  to  stop  the  machine  when  the  sliver  breaks  between 
the  front  rolls  and  calender  rolls,  when  the  cans  at  the  front 
of  the  machine  become  full,  and  in  some  cases  when  any 
part  of  the  cotton  laps  around  the  calender  or  the  draw- 
ing rolls.  There  are  two  general  classes  of  stop-motions 
applied  to  drawing  irsime?,—mecha7iical  and  electrical.  As  the 
mechanical  stop-motions  are  older  and  more  commonly  met 
with,  they  will  be  described  first. 


MECHANICAL    STOP-MOTION 

17.  The  method  adopted  to  automatically  ship  the  belt 
from  the  tight  to  the  loose  pulley  and  thus  stop  the  machine 
will  be  described  with  reference  to  Figs.  11,  12,  and  13, 
Fig.  12  being  a  plan  view  and  Fig.  13  a  sectional  elevation, 
taken  on  line  x  x  oi  Fig.  12.     The  driving  belt  runs  on  the 


24 


RAILWAY  HEADS 


21 


tight  and  loose  pulleys  z/, //,,  Fig.  12,  and  is  governed  by  the 
belt  guide  r,  which  is  fastened  to  the  rod  q  and  extends  out- 
wards above  the  spring  ^  and  shaft  k^.     Working  loosely  on 


.      Fig.  12 

this  rod  is  the  casting  q^,  which  is  kept  pressed  against  the 
belt   guide  by  means  of  the  spring  s,  one  end  of  which  is 

fastened  to  the  bracket  /,  while 
the  other  end  is  connected  to  the 
arm  q.  of  the  casting  q^,  this  arm 
working  loosely  on  the  shaft  k^. 
By  this  means  the  casting  q^,  un- 
less held  in  position  by  some 
other  mechanism,  will  force  the 
belt  guide  r  in  such  a  direction 
that  the  belt  will  be  shipped  from 
the  tight  pulley  ii  to  the  loose 
pulley  Ui. 

The  method  adopted  to  hold 
the  casting  q^  in  position  when 
the  belt  is  on  the  tight  pulley  is 
Pivoted  at  the  point  p^  is 
the  casting  p,  which  carries  two  arms  p^,  p^.  When  the 
machine  is  started  by  means  of  shipping  the  belt  from  the 


Fig. 13 

more  clearly  shown  in  Fig.  13 


§21  AND  DRAWING  FRAMES  25 

loose  to  the  tight  pulley,  the  belt  guide  r,  Fig.  12,  carries 
the  casting  </,  along  with  it  as  the  shipper  and  rod  move. 
The  projection  on  the  casting  g^  is  beveled  off  on  the  side 
that  comes  in  contact  with  p^  when  the  belt  is  being  shipped 
to  the  tight  pulley.  Thus  the  outer  end  of  p  is  raised  until 
the  projection  on  g^  passes  the  arm  ^3,  when  it  falls  and 
allows  p:,  to  hold  the  casting  securely  in  position.  Set- 
screwed  to  the  shaft  k^  is  the  knuckle-jointed  lever  ?/.  The 
upper  end  ;/,.  of  this  lever  contains  a  slot  ?/,,  in  which  works 
a  pin  Wi,  which  is  a  part  of,  and  revolves  with,  the  gear  w. 
Thus,  as  the  gear  revolves,  the  pin  ;;/,  moves  the  upper  end  of 
the  lever  alternately  backwards  and  forwards,  which  imparts 
an  oscillating  motion  to  the  shaft  k,,  provided  that  this  shaft 
is  free  to  oscillate,  since  under  these  conditions  the  fulcrum 
of  the  lever  will  be  at  the  point  at  which  it  is  attached  to  the 
shaft.  If,  however,  the  shaft  X',  is  prevented  from  oscillating, 
the  fulcrum  of  the  lever  will  be  at  the  point  n^,  and  as  the 
part  71^  is  forced  out  by  the  pin  w,,  the  arm  713,  which  is  a 
part  of  Wj,  will  be  forced  against  the  arm  p^,  pushing  up  the 
casting/",  since  it  swings  on/,,  and  allowing  the  arm />3  to 
release  the  casting  g,. 

18.  Drawing  frames  equipped  with  the  mechanical 
stop-motions  automatically  stop  when  the  sliver  breaks  or 
runs  out  at  the  back,  when  the  sliver  breaks  in  front,  and 
when  the  cans  at  the  front  become  full. 

The  manner  in  which  the  machine  is  stopped  when  a  sliver 
at  the  back  breaks  or  runs  out  is  described  with  reference  to 
Figs.  11,  12,  and  13.  Referring  to  Fig.  11,  it  will  be  noted 
that  each  sliver  passes  over  a  guide  d,  known  as  a  spoon^ 
that  is  supported  at  the  point  d..  but  is  free  to  swing  up  and 
down,  its  lower  end  being  slightly  heavier  than  its  upper 
end.  The  weight  and  tension  of  the  sliver  in  passing  over 
the  spoon  is  sufficient  to  lower  the  upper  end  of  the  spoon. 
Should  the  sliver  break  or  run  out,  however,  the  spoon  will 
be  released,  its  lower  end  will  drop,  and  the  projection  di 
will  engage  with  a  projection  on  the  arm  k,  which  being  set- 
screwed  to  the  shaft  /(.',  oscillates  with  that  shaft.     As  the 


26  RAILWAY  HEADS  §21 

projection  </,  engages  with  the  projection  on  the  arm  k,  the 
shaft  ky  is  prevented  from  oscillating,  thus  causing  the  arm  «3, 
Fig.  13,  to  be  forced  against /j,  bringing  ^^  out  of  the  path 
of  ^.,  and  allowing  the  spring  s.  Fig.  12,  to  force  the  casting 
against  the  belt  guide,  shipping  the  belt  from  the  tight  to 
the  loose  pulley  and  stopping  the  machine. 

19.  The  mechanism  that  stops  the  machine  in  case  the 
sliver  breaks  between  the  front  rolls  and  calender  rolls  is  as 
follows,  reference  being  made  to  Fig.  11.  A  lever  g^  that 
is  pivoted  at  g^  carries  a  weight  g^  that  tends  to  lower  the 
outer  end  ^9.  At  its  forward  end  the  lever  ^3  carries  a  lug^s 
that  bears  against  the  lever  g^,  which  in  turn  bears  against 
an  adjusting  screw  g.,  carried  by  the  lever  g^  that  supports 
the  trumpet  g.  In  case  the  sliver  is  running  through  the 
trumpet  properly,  the  weight  and  tension  of  the  sliver  is 
sufficient  to  cause  the  lever  g,.  to  hold  down  the  lever  g^;  and 
since  this  lever  rests  on  the  lug  g^,  the  weight  g^  will  be 
prevented  from  lowering  the  outer  end  g^  of  the  lever  g^. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  the  sliver  breaks  at  the  front  of  the 
machine,  the  outer  end  of  the  lever  ^3  is  forced  down  by  the 
weight,  and  the  part  g^  comes  in  contact  with  the  front  of 
the  projection  k^  on  the  arm  k,  which  action  prevents  the 
shaft  k,  from  oscillating  and  stops  the  machine  in  the  manner 
previously  described. 

20.  When  the  can  /,  Fig.  11,  is  filled,  the  sliver  gradually 
presses  the  plate  /.  up,  forcing  the  upper  end  of  the  tube  i 
against  the  lever  ^e,  which  allows  the  weight  ^4  to  forceps 
into  the  path  of  the  projection  k.,  thus  stopping  the  machine 
in  the  same  manner  as  when  the  sliver  breaks  at  the  front. 


ELECTRIC    STOP-MOTIONS 

21.  Introcliictory. — A  principle  that  has  been  exten- 
sively applied  to  drawing  frames  is  that  of  automatically 
stopping  the  machine  through  the  use  of  electricity.  But  in 
considering  electric  stop-motions  it  will  first  be  necessary 
to   give   some   attention   to   certain   laws   of   electricity  that 


§21  AND  DRAWING  FRAMES  27 

make  it  possible  to  apply  this  class  of  stop-motions  to  cotton- 
mill  machiner3\ 

The  electric  current  must  always  be  generated  by  some 
suitable  apparatus,  which  for  stop-motions  on  drawing 
frames  generally  consists  of  a  dynamo  placed  above  the 
frames.  If  suitable  connections  are  made,  an  electric  current 
will  flow  from  one  part  of  the  dynamo  through  the  con- 
nections and  back  again  to  the  dynamo,  forming  what  is 
known  as  a  circuit.  In  order  to  have  a  current  of  electricity, 
there  must  always  be  a  complete  route,  or  circuit,  from  the 
source  of  the  electric  current  through  the  various  connections, 
and  back  again  to  the  place  from  which  it  started.  If  there  is 
more  than  one  route  that  the  current  can  follow,  it  will  divide 
into  two  or  more  separate  currents,  but  the  maximum  current 
will  always  flow  through  the  path  of  the  least  resistance. 
If  for  any  reason  the  circuit  is  broken,  the  flow  of  electricity 
will  stop.  The  two  ends,  at  the  place  where  the  circuit  is 
divided,  are  known  as  terminals,  one  of  which  is  termed  posi- 
tive and  the  other  negative.  That  terminal  from  which  the 
current  would  flow,  if  connected  with  the  other  terminal,  is 
called  positive;  while  the  terminal  into  which  the  current 
would  flow  from  the  positive  terminal  is  called  negative. 

Substances  are  divided  into  two  classes  as  regards  the  resist- 
ance they  offer  to  the  flow  of  electricity,  and  are  known  as 
conductors  and  non-conductors,  the  former  consisting  of 
those  substances  through  which  an  electric  current  can  read- 
ily pass,  while  the  latter  comprises  substances  that  offer  great 
resistance  to  the  flow.  When  two  conductors  come  in  con- 
tact, the  current  readily  flows  from  one  to  the  other.  If  it  is 
desired  to  prevent  this  flow,  the  bodies  must  be  insulated; 
that  is,  they  must  be  separated  by  some  substance  that  is  a 
non-conductor.  Metals  are  good  conductors,  while  glass,  silk, 
cotton,  etc.  are  poor  conductors.  Thus,  if  a  current  of  elec- 
tricity is  passing  from  one  piece  of  metal  to  another,  as,  for 
instance,  the  top  and  bottom  rolls  of  a  drawing  frame,  and 
some  non-conducting  substance,  such  as  cotton,  is  brought 
between  the  points  of  contact  of  the  two  pieces  of  metal,  the 
circuit  will  be  broken  and  the  current  stopped. 


28  RAILWAY  HEADS  §21 

If  a  piece  of  soft  iron  is  surrounded  by  coils  of  wire  through 
which  an  electric  current  passes,  the  iron  becomes  magnet- 
ized and  has  the  power  of  attracting  certain  other  metals, 
such  as  iron  and  steel.  A  piece  of  iron  magnetized  in  this 
manner  is  known  as  an  electromagnet. 

22.  Operation  of  tlie  Electric  Stop-Motion. — Fig.  14 
is  a  section  of  a  drawing  frame  equipped  with  the  electric 
stop-motion,  while  Fig.  15  is  a  portion  of  a  front  view  of  the 
same  machine.  The  electric  current  passes  from  the  dynamo 
through  the  rod  a  into  and  through  the  several  parts  of  the 
machine  and  leaves  it  through  the  rod  a^  to  enter  the  dynamo. 
As  far  as  possible,  the  path  that  the  current  takes  through 
the  drawing  frame  has  been  indicated  by  means  of  arrows. 
Otherwise,  those  parts  that  are  connected  with  the  positive 
terminal  of  the  dynamo  are  indicated  by  being  cross-hatched 
in  two  directions,  when  in  section,  and  by  a  dark  surface 
shading,  when  not  in  section.  Those  connected  with  the 
negative  terminal  are  shown  in  the  ordinary  manner. 

It  will  be  noticed  that,  with  few  exceptions,  the  whole 
frame  of  the  machine  with  all  the  rolls,  except  one,  are  nega- 
tive; this  positive  roll  is  marked  m.  Among  the  positively 
charged  parts  the  most  important  are  the  cover  />,,  back 
plate  >^3,  connecting  piece  X%,  roll  w,  rod  k^,  and  springs  /,  5. 

It  is  of  importance  that  the  positively  charged  parts  shall 
be  electrically  insulated  from  those  negatively  charged.  This 
is  attained  by  interposing  plates  or  disks  of  insulating  mate- 
rial between  them.  The  presence  of  these  insulating  parts 
at  any  place  is  indicated  in  the  drawings  by  means  of  full 
black  surfaces.  The  action  of  the  stop-motion  depends  on 
devices  by  means  of  which  connections  are  made  between 
the  insulated  parts,  in  order  that  an  electric  current  may  pass 
from  one  to  the  other. 

The  path  of  the  electric  current  through  the  machine  is  as 
follows:  From  the  rod  a  through  the  electromagnet  b,  bi, 
then  through  the  parts  /,  /,  k,  and  the  rod  ki  that  extends 
across  the  frame.  Electrically  connected  with  this  rod  are 
two    springs    s,  t,   these    springs    being    duplicated    at    each 


30  RAILWAY  HEADS  §21 

delivery.  From  the  rod  k^,  the  current  passes  through  the 
connecting  piece  k^  that  extends  to  the  back  of  the  frame  and 
forms  a  connection  with  the  back  plate  k^.  From  here  the 
current  passes  to  the  cover /»,  and  roll  yn. 

It  should  be  noticed  that  as  long  as  the  various  parts  are 
kept  insulated  from  each  other  no  electric  current  will  pass 
through.  It  is  only  in  case  any  one  of  the  insulating  plates 
is,  as  it  were,  bridged  over  that  a  current  will  flow.  The 
current  in  all  cases  makes  its  start  through  the  electromag- 
net b,  bi',  this  will  therefore  always  be  set  in  action  first 
and  will  attract  the  small  finger  c.  As  this  finger  is  pivoted 
at  c,  its  lower  part  swings  over,  coming  in  contact  with  a 
dog  d  that  is  a  portion  of  /,  which,  although  loose  on  the 
coiler  shaft  d^,  ordinarily  revolves  with  it,  being  driven  by 
frictional  contact  with  the  part  g,  which  revolves  with  the 
shaft  rt'i,  since  the  surfaces  of. these  parts  that  are  in  contact 
are  at  an  angle  with  the  shaft.  The  part  .^  is  on  a  keyway 
on  the  shaft  d^;  consequently,  it  must  revolve  with  the  shaft, 
but  is  capable,  however,  of  being  pushed  lengthwise  of  the 
shaft.  As  d  and  /  are  stopped  by  the  finger  c,  the  part  g,  con- 
tinuing to  revolve,  will  be  pushed  lengthwise  of  the  shaft 
because  of  the  shape  of  the  parts  f,g.  This  action  of  g 
throws  the  lever  e  to  the  right,  which,  since  e  is  fastened  to 
the  shaft  e^,  gives  the  latter  a  partial  revolution.  Setscrewed 
to  the  shaft  e^  is  a  casting  e.,  an  arm  of  which  works  in  a  slot 
in  the  upright  rod  ^3,  which  controls  the  shipper  rod  e^  to 
which  the  belt  shipper  is  attached.  As  the  shaft  e^  is  turned 
by  the  lever  e,  it  throws  the  casting  e^  over  to  one  side, 
moving  the  rod  <^3  and,  consequently,  the  shipper  rod  e^  in 
such  a  direction  that  the  belt  will  be  shipped  from  the  tight 
to  the  loose  pulley. 

The  action  of  the  rod  //  should  be  noted  in  this  connec- 
tion. As  the  lever  e,  to  which  it  is  fastened,  is  forced  over 
by^,  it  brings  with  it  the  rod  h,  which  is  so  shaped  that  it 
forces  the  finger  c  out  of  contact  with  the  revolving  dog  d, 
thus  placing  these  parts  in  their  initial  positions. 

Drawing  frames  equipped  with  the  electric  stop-motion 
shown  in  Figs.  14  and  15  stop  when  the  sliver  breaks  or 


32  RAILWAY  HEADS  §21 

runs  out  at  the  back,  when  laps  form  on  the  top  or  bottom 
front  drawing  rolls,  when  the  sliver  breaks  in  front,  and  when 
the  cans  at  the  front  become  full. 

23.  The  rolls  m,n  are  known  as  the  top  and  bottom  pre- 
venter rolls,  respectively;  they  are  also  sometimes  called 
detector  rolls.  They  are  frequently  found  applied  to  both 
railway  heads  and  drawi-ng  frames,  and  are  considered  an 
advantage  both  in  working  the  stop-motion  when  an  end 
breaks  or  runs  out  at  the  back  and  in  making  a  piecing  at 
the  back.  With  these  rolls,  the  tension  on  the  sliver  is  more 
even,  thus  keeping  the  spoons  in  their  correct  position  and 
causing  the  stop-motion  to  act  more  quickly.  A  piecing  at 
this  place  is  desirable  since,  as  it  does  not  require  tall  help  to 
run  the  frames,  small  boys,  girls,  or  women  may  be  employed, 
whereas  when  the  piecing  must  be  made  close  to  the  back 
rolls  taller  help  is  required. 

As  shown  in  Fig.  14,  the  roll  m  is  positive,  while  n  is 
negative;  consequently,  if  these  rolls  are  allowed  to  come  in 
contact,  a  circuit  will  be  formed  and  the  machine  stopped. 
The  lower  roll  n  extends  the  entire  length  of  the  machine, 
while  the  top  roll  vi  is  made  in  shorter  lengths,  there  being 
one  of  these  rolls  for  every  two  slivers  at  the  back.  As  long 
as  the  slivers  are  passing  between  these  two  rolls  they  are 
prevented  from  coming  in  contact.  Should  either  sliver 
break  or  run  out,  however,  the  end  of  the  roll  under  which 
it  passes  will  drop  and,  coming  in  contact  with  the  lower 
roll  11,  will  form  a  circuit  and  stop  the  machine.  By  referring 
to  Figs.  14  and  15,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  drawing  rolls 
are  negative  and  the  covers  positive.  The  front  top  roll 
rests  in  bearings  and  is  capable  of  being  raised  if  any 
obstruction  comes  between  it  and  the  bottom  roll.  Fastened 
to  each  cover  of  the  drawing  frame  are  two  adjustable 
screws,  similar  to  p,  that  are  so  set  that  they  will  not  come 
in  contact  with  any  part  of  the  rolls  so  long  as  the  cotton  is 
running  through  the  machine  properly.  If  the  cotton  laps 
around  either  the  top  or  bottom  roll,  the  increased  size  of 
the  bulk  of  cotton  between  the  two  rolls  will  cause  the  top 


^21  AND  DRAWING  FRAMES  33 

roll  to  be  raised  in  its  bearings  until  it  comes  in  contact  with 
one  of  the  screws  p,  when  a  circuit  will  be  formed  and  the 
machine  stopped. 

The  back  calender  roll  r,  extends  the  entire  length  of  the 
frame,  while  the  front  calender  roll  r  is  made  in  sections, 
each  of  which  is  only  long  enough  to  serve  for  two  deliveries 
and  rests  in  inclined  bearings.  As  long  as  the  cotton  is 
passing  between  the  rolls,  the  thickness  of  the  sliver  will 
push  the  roll  r  up  slightly  in  its  bearings.  However,  should 
either  sliver  that  passes  between  any  one  of  the  front 
calender  rolls  and  the  back  calender  rolls  break,  the  end  of 
the  front  calender  roll  that  was  supported  by  that  sliver  will 
drop  and  come  in  contact  with  the  spring  s.  As  one  of  these 
parts  is  negative  and  the  other  positive,  a  circuit  will  be 
formed  and  the  machine  stopped. 

As  the  can  at  the  front  of  the  machine  becomes  full,  the 
pressure  of  the  sliver  in  the  can  raises  the  top  of  the  coiler 
until  it  comes  in  contact  w'ith  the  spring  /,  when  the  machine 
will  be  stopped,  owing  to  a  circuit  being  formed  by  the 
contact  of  these  two  parts,  one  of  which  is  positive  and  the 
other  negative.  

GEARING 

24.  Each  head  in  a  drawing  frame  is  driven  separately 
from  any  other  head  in  regard  to  its  individual  gearing,  but 
all  the  heads  are  driven  by  what  is  called  the  lower  or  main 
shaft,  which  runs  underneath  the  frame;  this  shaft  is  shown 
in  Fig.  10,  and  also  in  Fig.  16,  which  is  a  plan  of  the 
gearing  of  the  machine  similar  to  that  shown  in  Fig.  10. 
At  each  head  is  a  pulley  that  is  connected  with  a  tight-and- 
loose  pulley  on  the  front  roll  of  that  particular  head  by 
means  of  an  open  belt.  The  lower  or  main  shaft  is  driven 
from  the  main  shaft  or  countershaft  of  the  room. 

Referring  to  Fig.  16,  a  gear  of  24  teeth  on  the  front  roll 
drives,  by  means  of  suitable  gearing,  the  calender  rolls  and 
the  coiler  connections.  Another  gear  of  24  teeth,  situated 
on  the  front  roll,  drives  the  back  roll.  The  gear  of  26  teeth 
on   this   back   roll   drives   the   third   roll.       Thus,    the   draft 


34 


RAILWAY  HEADS 


§21 


between  these  two  rolls  is  constant,  provided  that  the  gears 
connecting  the  rolls  are  not  changed.  The  wide-faced  gear 
of  60  teeth  on  the  back  roll  drives,  by  means  of  a  carrier, 
the  gear  m,  shown  in  Fig.  13  but  not  in  Fig.  16,     The  gear 


100        33 


MaJTh  Shaft 


Fig. 16 

of  20  teeth  on  the  front  roll  drives  the  second  roll,  and  con- 
sequently the  draft  between  these  two  rolls  is  constant,  pro- 
vided that  the  gears  connecting  them  are  not  changed. 
Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  break  draft  of  this  machine 
comes  between  the  second  and  third  rolls. 


§21  AND  DRAWING  FRAMES  35 

The   draft  of    a   drawing   frame  with   common   rolls,  and 
geared  as  shown  in  Fig.  16,  would  be  as  follows,  the  draft 
being  figured  from  the  calender  roll  to  the  back  roll: 
2  X  30  X  24  X  100  X  60 


24  X  45  X  24  X  44  X  It 


=  5.509 


MANAGEMENT  OF  DRAWING  FRAMES 

25.  The  arrangement  of  the  cans  at  the  back  of  the  frame 
is  an  important  point  to  be  considered.  The  usual  practice 
is  to  place  full  cans  of  sliver  behind  the  breaker  drawing 
frame.  This  is  all  right  for  the  breaker,  as  there  is  never  the 
same  amount  of  sliver  in  the  different  cans,  due  to  the  cards 
or  combers  being  separate;  therefore,  the  cans  will  be 
emptied  at  different  intervals,  thus  insuring  that  no  two 
piecings  will  come  together  and  that  the  frame  will  not 
remain  stopped  for  any  length  of  time  waiting  for  the 
attendant  to  piece  more  than  one  end.  This,  however,  is  not 
the  case  wath  the  first  and  second  intermediates  and  finisher, 
since  in  this  case  if  a  sliver  breaks  the  whole  head  is  stopped, 
and  consequently  when  one  can  is  full  they  are  all  full,  if 
empty  cans  were  inserted  at  the  front  at  the  same  time;  and 
if  they  are  all  taken  out  at  once  and  fed  immediately  to  the 
next  machine  at  the  same  time,  it  is  evident  that  they  wnll  all 
be  emptied  at  about  the  same  time,  necessitating  several 
piecings  in  a  short  length  of  sliver.  To  remedy  this  defect, 
it  is  better  to  feed  the  frames  in  sections  so  that  some  of  the 
cans  at  the  back  of  any  drawing  frame  wall  be  full,  others 
three-fourths  full,  still  others  half  full,  and  so  on. 

26.  The  relative  weight  per  yard  of  the  sliver  delivered 
to  the  weight  per  yard  of  each  sliver  fed,  depends  on  the 
relation  of  the  number  of  ends  fed,  or  doubled,  at  the  back 
of  one  delivery  to  the  total  draft  of  the  machine.  It  is  the 
general  plan  in  the  drawing  frame  not  to  have  the  draft 
exceed  the  doubling.  That  is,  if  6  ends  are  put  up  at  the 
back  of  each  delivery,  the  draft  is  not  generally  more  than  6. 

27.  Both  top  and  bottom  metallic  rolls  should  receive 
careful    attention    to    prevent    licking,    which    is    frequently 


36  RAILWAY  HEADS  §21 

caused  by  the  flutes  collecting  and  holding  the  dirt.  On 
this  account  metallic  rolls  require  cleaning  oftener  than 
common    rolls. 

Where  common  top  rolls  are  used,  they  should  be  relieved 
of  the  weights  if  a  stoppage  occurs  for  more  than  48 
hours.  This  helps  to  prevent  the  leather  top  rolls  from 
becoming  fluted. 

28.  Before  the  leather  top  rolls  are  put  into  the  drawing 
frame,  they  must  be  varnished,  the  frequency  of  subsequent 
varnishing  depending  on  the  varnish  used,  the  weight  of 
sliver  produced,  and  the  speed  at  which  the  rolls  are  run. 
Any  roughness  on  the  surface  of  these  rolls  causes  licking, 
and  careful  attention  should  therefore  be  given  to  them,  as 
licking  produces  waste,  light  sliver,  and  loss  in  production 
•through  stopping  the  head  to  remove  roller  laps.  Any  top 
roll  that  shows  impressions  of  the  flutes  of  the  bottom 
steel  rolls  on  the  leather,  or  becomes  fluted,  as  it  is  called, 
should  be  immediately  recovered. 

29.  Sometimes  in  changing  from  coarse  to  fine  work,  or, 
in  other  words,  from  a  heavy  to  a  light  sliver,  the  trumpet 
must  be  changed.  This  is  on  account  of  the  sliver  being 
so  light  and  the  small  end  of  the  trumpet  so  large  that  the 
friction  and  weight  of  the  sliver  will  not  be  sufficient  to  keep 
the  trumpet  in  its  proper  position,  thus  causing  the  frame  to 
be  stopped  continually. 

30.  There  should  be  very  little  waste  made  at  the  drawing 
frame,  so  that  if  a  large  amount  is  made  it  may  be  taken  as 
an  indication  that  some  part  of  the  frame  is  not  properly 
adjusted,  or  that  the  operators  are  not  attending  to  their 
work  as  they  should.  The  drawing  frames  should  be  kept 
free  from  dirt,  dust,  and  short  fiber.  Oil  should  not  be 
allowed  in  places  where  it  is  not  required.  In  order  to 
insure  clean  work  the  tenders  should  wipe  or  brush  the 
frames  about  every  two  hours;  this  takes  very  little  of  their 
time  but  greatly  helps  to  improve  the  quality  of  the  yarn. 
A  thorough  cleaning  of  all  parts  of  the  frame  should  take 
place  twice  a  week. 


§21  AND  DRAWING  FRAMES  37 

All  bolts,  nuts,  screws,  etc.  should  be  looked  after  and 
kept  tight.  Stop-motions  should  be  kept  in  working  order, 
as  otherwise  a  great  deal  of  bad  work  will  result.  All 
quickly  moving  parts,  such  as  the  top  and  bottom  rolls, 
lower  shaft,  etc.,  should  be  oiled  twice  a  day,  and  every 
moving  part  of  the  frame  should  be  oiled  once  a  week,  care 
being  taken  not  to  get  the  oil  on  any  surrounding  parts  that 
do  not  require  oiling.  The  boxes  of  the  lower  shaft  should 
be  partially  filled  with  tallow. 

31.  Weighing  the  sliver  at  the  finisher  drawing  frame  is 
a  very  important  matter  and  should  be  done  at  least  twice  a 
day,  while  in  fine  work  three,  and  sometimes  four,  times  a  day 
is  advisable.  If  the  weight  of  the  sliver  is  properly  adjusted 
at  this  point,  there  w'ill  be  fewer  changes  in  the  subsequent 
processes.  It  is  also  best  to  have  the  stock  running  evenly  as 
early  as  possible.  The  sliver  is  generally  prepared  for 
weighing  by  what  is  known  as  the  measuring  board,  which 
usually  consists  of  two  boards  6  inches  wide  and  36  inches 
long  hinged  together  on  one  of  the  side  edges.  One  head 
of  the  frame  is  stopped  and  the  cans  at  the  front  taken  out. 
After  it  has  been  ascertained  that  all  the  ends  are  up  at  the 
back,  the  head  is  again  started  and  run  until  about  li  or 
2  yards  has  been  delivered.  The  machine  is  then  stopped 
and  the  ends  of  the  slivers  gathered  together  with  one  hand, 
while  with  the  other  hand  they  are  broken  ofif  at  the  top.  The 
slivers  are  now  placed  on  one  of  the  measuring  boards,  care 
being  taken  to  have  each  sliver  straight;  the  boards  are  then 
closed  and  the  ends  of  the  slivers  projecting  over  the  two 
ends  of  the  board  cut  with  a  pair  of  shears  or  a  sharp  knife. 
The  slivers  are  now  taken  from  the  board  and  weighed  on  a 
pair  of  scales.  This  weight  is  divided  by  the  number  of 
deliveries  in  a  head,  the  result  being  the  average  weight  of 
a  sliver  for  that  head.  A  variation  of  more  than  2  grains 
over  or  under  the  standard  for  each  sliver  should  not  be 
allowed,  and  if  this  amount  of  variation  is  on  the  same  side 
of  the  standard  for  two  weighings,  the  draft  gear  should  be 
changed.      Sometimes    the    sliver   from    each    delivery    is 


38  RAILWAY  HEADS  §21 

weighed  separately  instead  of  being  taken  as  in  the  method 
previously  described. 

32.  In  connection  with  drawing  frames  equipped  with  an 
electric  stop-motion  care  should  be  taken  that  all  the  metallic 
connections  are  screwed  tightly  together,  in  order  that  a 
circuit  may  be  made  and  the  machine  stopped  under  any  of 
the  conditions  previously  mentioned.  The  preventer  rolls 
should  be  kept  free  from  oil,  since  if  sufficient  oil  at  any 
time  collects  on  either  of  these  rolls,  it  will  form  a  film  over 
the  surface  of  the  roll,  and  if  under  these  conditions  an  end 
should  break,  thus  allowing  the  top  roll  to  come  in  contact 
with  the  bottom  roll,  the  frame  would  not  stop,  as  oil  is  a 
non-conductor  and  prevents  the  flow  of  the  current.  The 
contact  springs  between  the  calender  rolls  and  coiler  top 
should  be  kept  clean  and  free  from  oil,  in  order  that  the  current 
may  not  be  prevented  from  flowing  from  one  part  to  another 
when  they  come  in  contact.  Care  should  be  taken  that  posi- 
tive and  negative  parts  of  the  frame  do  not  come  in  contact 
with  each  other  when  the  cotton  is  passing  properly  through 
the  machine,  since  the  current  will  then  return  to  the  dynamo 
without  passing  through  the  proper  channels,  in  which  case 
the  current  is  said  to  be  short-circuited.  Under  this  condition 
the  stop-motion  will  not  accomplish  its  purpose,  and  one  of  the 
two  following  things  will  happen:  If  the  frame  becomes 
short-circuited  before  the  current  reaches  the  magnet  box,  the 
stop-motion  will  not  operate  when  an  end  breaks,  since  the 
current  will  be  returned  through  the  frame  to  the  dynamo 
without  passing  through  the  magnet  box.  If  the  frame 
becomes  short-circuited  after  the  current  has  left  the  magnet 
box,  the  machine  will  be  stopped,  although  the  sliver  may  be 
running  through  the  machine  correctly.  In  order  that  the 
stop-motion  shall  operate  quickly,  which  is  very  desirable,  the 
finger  that  comes  in  contact  with  the  revolving  dog  should 
be  within  iV  inch  of  the  dog  when  the  machine  is  running. 

33,  Care  of  Drawing  Frame. — The  steel  rolls  should 
be  carefully  scoured  at  least  once  a  month.  Leather  top  rolls 
should  be  examined  periodically  so  that  the  frames  will  not 


§21  AND  DRAWING  FRAMES 


39 


continue  to  run  with  rolls  that  are  fluted,  channeled,  or  other- 
wise defective.  Steel  rolls  that  are  not  running  true  may 
occasionally  be  found  by  raising  the  top  clearers  and  noticing- 
whether  any  of  the  top  rolls  are  jumping.  The  top  rolls 
should  be  examined  frequently  to  see  that  the  varnishing  is 
not  neglected.  The  back  of  each  frame  requires  watchful- 
ness on  the  part  of  the  one  in  charge  to  see  that  the  right 
number  of  ends  are  being  fed.  Spoons  should  be  examined 
periodically  to  see  that  they  are  well  balanced  and  that  the 
lower  end  drops  immediately  when  the  end  of  the  sliver 
breaks  or  even  when  it  comes  through  very  light;  the  spoons 
should  always  work  easily.  Bad  piecings  should  be  looked 
out  for,  more  especially  those  that  are  too  long.  If  the 
drawing  frame  piecing  is  made  6  inches  too  long  at  the 
back,  that  amount  of  extra  material  will  extend  through 
many  yards  of  the  finished  yarn.  The  guides  at  the  back  of 
the  drawing  frame  should  always  be  arranged  so  that  the 
ends  at  the  back  will  be  separated  as  widely  as  the  rolls  will 
allow;  bad  drawing  results  if  the  ends  are  not  spaced  suffi- 
ciently far  apart  and  one  end  rides  on  another. 

Occasionally,  drawing-frame  tenders  have  been  known  to 
pass  cans  of  material  forwards  without  putting  it  through  the 
frame.  Where  the  frame  that  is  skipped  has  a  draft  equal  to 
the  number  of  doublings,  this  does  not  make  much  difference 
to  the  ultimate  weight  of  the  yarn,  but  if  the  frame  is  one 
where  a  considerable  alteration  is  made  in  the  weight  of  the 
sliver,  the  omission  becomes  serious  and  causes  irregular 
work.     In  any  case,  the  practice  should  not  be  allowed. 

The  covers  over  the  rolls  should  be  examined  daily  by  the 
one  in  charge— or  even  several  times  a  day— in  order  to 
make  sure  that  the  tenders  are  picking  off  the  clearer  waste; 
this  should  be  done  every  hour,  for  if  the  waste  is  left  on  the 
clearer,  it  is  apt  to  be  drawn  forwards  with  the  sliver  and 
cause  dirty  slubs  in  the  roving  and  unsatisfactory  work  at 
the  future  processes.  The  tenders  should  not  be  allowed  to 
run  the  cans  too  full. 

It  should  be  remarked  in  connection  with  the  drawing 
frame,  as  in  connection  with  almost  every  other  machine  in 


40  RAILWAY  HEADS  §21 

the  mill,  that  high  speeds  do  not  always  pay.  There  is  a 
limit  to  the  capacity  of  every  machine,  beyond  which  the  work 
done  deteriorates,  or  the  excessive  number  of  stoppages, 
through  breakages  and  stock  running  out,  prevents  any 
advantage  being  gained  by  an  excessively  high  speed. 

In  some  cases,  experiments  have  been  made  in  connection 
with  drawing  frames  in  the  direction  of  using  fewer  processes 
of  drawing,  in  order  to  save  labor  cost.  Drawing  is  not  an 
expensive  process  as  regards  labor  cost,  and  for  this  reason 
it  is  not  advisable  to  use  less  than  two  drawing  frames  for 
numbers  lower  than  16s,  unless  the  railway  head  is  also  used; 
not  less  than  three  drawing  frames,  or  one  railway  head  and 
two  drawing  frames,  for  numbers  16s  to  70s;  and  not  less 
than  four  processes  of  drawing  for  numbers  finer  than  70s, 
unless  the  sliver-lap  and  ribbon-lap  machines  are  used  in 
connection  with  the  comber.  These  arrangements  are  not 
absolute  and  depend  on  the  quality  of  the  yarn  desired. 

In  other  cases,  experiments  have  been  made  with  a  view  to 
using  extra  processes  of  drawing  so  as  to  reduce  the  number 
of  processes  of  fly  frames  where  the  labor  cost  is  higher,  but 
satisfactory  results  have  not  always  been  obtained. 

34.  The  floor  space  occupied  by  a  drawing  frame  simi- 
lar to  the  one  described  and  consisting  of  one  head  of  six 
deliveries,  is  about  10  feet  6  inches  by  5  feet  8  inches,  allow- 
ing sufficient  space  for  six  cans  at  the  back  of  each  delivery. 
Drawing  frames  weigh,  approximately,  700  pounds  per  delivery 
and,  although  the  horsepower  required  to  drive  a  frame  varies 
somewhat  with  the  class  of  work  being  run,  it  may  be  stated 
as  a  fair  estimate  that  between  four  and  five  deliveries 
require  1  horsepower. 

The  speed  of  the  front  roll  of  a  drawing  frame  may  be 
from  250  to  700  revolutions  per  minute  for  a  If-inch  roll. 
The  production  at  350  revolutions  per  minute  with  a  50-grain 
sliver,  making  an  allowance  of  10  per  cent,  for  stoppages, 
is  about  168  pounds  in  a  day  of  10  hours;  with  a  70-grain 
sliver,  about  235  pounds;  and  with  an  85-grain  sliver,  about 
285  pounds. 


§21  AND  DRAWING  FRAMES  41 

35.  It  should  be  understood  that  the  machines  that  have 
been  described  do  not  cover  all  the  makes  of  railway  heads 
and  drawing-  frames,  nor  do  the  stop-motions  and  evener 
motions  described  in  connection  with  the  machines  illus- 
trated include  all  the  different  methods  adopted  to  accom- 
plish the  same  objects.  However,  it  may  be  stated  that 
the  general  principles  of  the  different  motions  will  be 
found  to  be  similar,  and  if  the  descriptions  given  are  fully 
understood,  there  should  be  no  difficulty  in  tracing  the  action 
of  any  part  of  these  machines  that  may  be  met  with  under 
different  circumstances. 


COMBERS 

(PART  1) 


COMBING   EQUIPMENT 


INTRODUCTION 

1.  When  a  cotton  yarn  is  to  be  manufactured,  it  is  first 
essential  to  select  the  grade  of  cotton  that  is  suitable  for 
the  quality  of  yarn  desired,  after  which  it  is  necessary  to 
determine  the  different  processes  that  the  cotton  must  pass 
through  in  order  to  obtain  the  required  product.  This  usually 
means  deciding  whether  or  not  the  cotton  shall  be  combed. 

A  lot  of  cotton,  even  if  of  the  same  grade,  will  never  be 
found  to  contain  an  absolutely  uniform  staple,  and  the  fibers 
that  are  below  the  average  length  will  weaken  the  yarns 
spun  from  this  lot.  For  very  fine  yarns,  or  for  a  high  grade 
of  yarn  even  when  of  coarse  numbers,  it  is  customary  to 
adopt  the  processes  of  coinbiiij>:  and  those  incidental  to  it; 
while  for  coarse  or  medium  yarns,  or  yarns  that  are  not 
required  to  be  of  superior  quality,  the  picking  and  carding 
processes  are  usually  considered  sufficient  for  cleaning  pur- 
poses. In  these  processes  a  large  portion  of  the  short  fibers 
remain,  but  their  presence  in  coarse  and  medium  warp  and 
filling  yarns  does  not  injure  the  quality  to  any  great  extent 
so  long  as  the  cotton  selected  is  suitable;  that  is,  generally 
speaking,  in  warp  yarns  that  are  not  finer  than  45s  and 
filling  yarns  not  finer  than  90s. 

2.  Object  of  CoinbiiipT. — For  fine  yarns  it  is  essential 
that  the  short  fibers  should  be  removed,  and  to  accomplish 

J^or  notice  of  cofiyright.  see  paee  immediately  followine  the  title  page 

i22 


2  COMBERS  §22 

this  the  process  known  as  combing  is  introduced.  There- 
fore, for  warp  yarns  finer  than  45s  and  filling  yarns  finer 
than  90s,  or  even  for  coarser  numbers  than  these  when  a 
high  grade  of  yarn  is  required,  it  is  customary,  in  addition  to 
the  selection  of  the  proper  stock,  to  remove  by  the  process 
of  combing  all  fibers  that  are  not  of  the  required  length. 
Combing,  however,  is  an  expensive  operation,  as  consider- 
able waste  results  from  this  process,  and  it  is  only  profitable 
to  comb  when  high-grade  work  is  required. 

3.  In  order  to  distinguish  the  different  processes  through 
which  the  cotton  has  passed,  yarns  are  termed  carded 
yarns  and  combed  yarns.  When  yarns  are  spoken  of  as 
being  carded,  it  may  mean  that  they  have  been  subjected  to 
one  process  of  carding  or  that  they  have  been  double-carded. 
Combed  yarns  may  be  single-combed  or  double-combed,  and 
in  either  case  they  may  have  been  carded  once  or  twice,  but 
double  carding  and  double  combing  are  not  practiced  to  any 
considerable  extent. 

The  process  of  combing  is  usually  performed  immediately 
after  carding  and  before  the  drawing  process,  although  in 
some  cases  one  drawing  process  is  used  between  the  carding 
and  the  combing  process.  With  the  combing  process  a 
higher  grade  of  yarn  than  that  obtained  with  the  carding 
process  alone  can  be  made  from  the  same  stock,  or  the 
same  grade  of  yarn  can  be  produced  from  a  lower  quality 
of  stock. 

4.  A  combing  equipment  usually  includes  three  kinds 
of  machines:  (1)  the  sliver-lap  machine,  which  has  for  its 
object  the  making  of  a  lap  from  a  number  of  card  slivers; 
(2)  the  ribbon-lap  machine,  the  object  of  which  is  to  combine 
several  of  the  laps  from  the  sliver-lap  machine  into  a  firm 
and  even  lap;  (3)  the  comber,  the  object  of  which  is  to 
remove  all  fibers  that  are  under  a  length  suitable  for  the 
yarn  required. 

When  the  drawing  frame  is  introduced,  the  combing 
equipment  generally  consists  of  drawing  frames,  sliver- 
lap  machines,  and  combers. 


§22 


COMBERS 


SLIVER-LAP  MACHINE 


CONSTRUCTION    AND    OPERATION 

5.  Before  the  cotton  can  be  combed,  it  must  be  placed  in 
a  suitable  form  for  the  combing  machine,  and  for  this  pur- 
pose it  is  taken  in  cans,  either  from  the  card  or  drawing 
frame,  to  the  sliver-lap  niacliine,  an  illustration  of  which 
is  given  in  Fig.  1. 


Fig.  1 


From  fourteen  to  eighteen  cans  of  sliver  are  placed  at  the 
back  of  this  machine,  the  number  being  governed  by  the 
width  of  lap  required,  which  is  usually  Ih  84,  or  IO2  inches. 
The  slivers  pass  from  the  can,  through  a  guide  plate,  over 


COMBERS 


§22 


spoons  that  operate  a  stop-motion,  and  then  through  a  suit- 
able conductor  to  the  drawing  rolls.  In  Figs.  1  and  2,  a  is  the 
guide  plate,  b  the  spoons,  and  <:  the  conductor.  The  drawing 
rolls  d  consist  of  three  pairs  of  rolls,  and  are  similar  in  con- 
struction to  those  of  drawing  frames.  From  the  drawing 
rolls,  the  sheet  of  slivers  passes  between  two  pair  of  smooth 
calender,  or  presser,  rolls  e,  where  it  is  pressed  into  a  uni- 
form sheet.  These  rolls  are  solid  and  are  usually  5  inches 
in  diameter;  the  top  rolls  are  weighted  by  means  of  weights 


Fig.  2 

and  levers.  The  bearings  of  the  top  rolls  are  in  vertical 
slots,  thus  allowing  them  to  rise  if  an  excessive  amount  of 
cotton  comes  between  them  and  the  bottom  rolls.  From  the 
smooth  calender  rolls  the  cotton  passes  over  a  polished 
guide  plate  /  with  adjustable  sides,  and  is  then  wound  on  a 
wooden  roll,  or  spool,  //.,  which  rests  on  the  fluted  calender 
rolls  g,  and  between  the  two  plates  h. 

The  wooden  spool  is  made  the  width  of  the  lap  required, 
with  a  diameter  of  about  4  inches,  and  is  held  in  position  by 
a  spindle  passing  through  the  hubs  of  the  plates.     On  one 


§22  COMBERS  5 

end  of  this  spindle  is  a  double  thread,  which  screws  into  a 
similar  thread  on  the  hub  of  one  of  the  plates.  On  the 
other  end  of  the  spindle  is  a  collar  and  hand  wheel,  the 
distance  from  the  collar  to  the  thread  being  such  that  when 
the  spindle  is  passed  through  the  plates  and  spool  and 
screwed  up  tight,  the  spool  will  be  held  firmly  between  the 
plates.  The  plates  are  supported  by  racks  /, /,,  Fig.  1,  the 
teeth  of  which  engage  with  gears  on  the  shaft  j.  The  gear 
on  the  shaft  /  that  engages  with  the  rack  /,  is  fastened  to 
the  shaft,  while  the  gear  engaging  with  the  rack  /  is  mounted 
on  a  sleeve  that  carries  the  disk  /,,  This  disk  is  secured  to 
the  casting  j^  in  such  a  manner  that  it  is  adjustable,  while 
the  casting  j^  is  keyed  to  the  shaft  j.  This  method  of  con- 
necting the  different  parts  provides  a  means  of  adjusting 
the  rack  /  with  relation  to  the  rack  z,.  When  the  racks 
are  down  in  position,  the  spool  rests  between  the  upper 
parts  of  the  calender  rolls  g  and  is  in  contact  with  both 
of  them.  The  spool  is  usually  made  tV  inch  longer  than 
the  rolls,  so  that  the  plates  will  not  bind  on  the  edges  of 
the  rolls.  As  the  fluted  calender  rolls  revolve,  the  spool 
and  plates  revolve  with  them;  by  this  means  the  sheet  of 
sliver  is  wound  on  the  spool  and  the  lap  formed.  The 
diameter  of  the  plates  is  greater  than  that  of  the  full  lap 
required,  and,  being  in  contact  with  the  ends  of  the  spool, 
the  lap  is  built  up  the  same  width  as  the  spool,  with 
perfect  sides. 

A  full  lap  should  be  from  12  to  14  inches  in  diameter, 
should  have  straight,  smooth  sides,  and  be  hard  and  firm. 
To  remove  a  full  lap  the  friction  is  released  by  pressing 
down  on  the  friction  lever  j^  and  the  racks  slightly  raised  by 
the  hand  wheel  7,  on  the  shaft  j.  The  spindle  is  then 
removed  by  unscrewing  it  from  the  plate  and  withdrawing  it 
from  the  spool,  allowing  the  lap  to  be  rolled  on  to  the  table  r. 
The  firmness  of  the  lap  is  governed  by  the  amount  of  friction 
placed  on  the  friction  motion  of  the  racks;  the  smoothness 
of  the  sides,  by  the  position  of  the  conductor  c  and  the 
adjustable  sides  of  the  guide  plate  /.  The  sides  of  the  con- 
ductor c  should  be  so  adjusted  that  the   sheet  delivered  to 


6  COMBERS  §22 

the  calender  rolls  will  be  somewhat  wider  than  the  lap 
required.  A  selvage  is  formed  on  each  side  of  the  lap  by 
the  guide  plate  /  and  the  circular  plates  //. 

6.  Stop-Motions. — There  are  two  stop-motions,  one  to 
stop  the  machine  when  an  end  of  sliver  breaks  at  the  back 
and  the  other  to  stop  the  machine  when  the  lap  is  full. 

7.  The  sliver  stop-motion  consists  of  unevenly  bal- 
anced spoons  b,  the  bottom  ends  of  which  are  heavier  than 
the  top.  Each  spoon  is  so  adjusted  that  the  weight  of  the 
sliver  holds  down  the  upper  part.  When  an  end  breaks  and 
passes  over  a  spoon,  the  spoon  is  released  and  the  lower  end 
comes  in  contact  with  a  tumbler,  or  rocker.  The  shaft  is 
stopped,  and  a  catch  on  a  shipper  rod  being  released,  a 
spring  forces  the  rod  outwards,  causing  the  belt  to  be 
shipped  to  the  loose  pulley. 

8.  The  full-lap  stop-motion  is  operated  as  follows:  As 
the  rack  is  raised  by  means  of  the  increased  diameter  of  the 
lap,  a  dog  on  one  of  the  racks  comes  in  contact  with  a  rod 
that  extends  back  and  connects  with  the  catch  on  the  shipper 
rod.  As  the  dog  passes  the  rod,  it  causes  it  to  be  moved 
backwards  and  releases  the  catch  on  the  shipper  rod.  The 
dog  is  adjustable  on  the  rack,  so  that  different  sizes  of  laps 
may  be  made. 

9.  Settings. — The  setting  points  and  adjustments  on  a 
sliver-lap  machine  are  as  follows:  The  proper  adjustment  of 
the  stop-motion  spoons,  so  that  the  spoon  will  act  immedi- 
ately when  an  end  breaks;  the  regulation  of  the  distances 
between  the  centers  of  the  drawing  rolls;  the  proper  adjust- 
ments of  the  sliver  conductor  and  guide  plates  so  that  a  good 
selvage  will  be  made;  and  the  proper  adjustment  of  the  racks 
so  that  they  will  be  perfectly  plumb  and  level,  since,  if  the 
racks  are  out  of  level,  it  will  cause  the  plates  to  bind  on  the 
edges  of  the  fluted  calender  rolls  and  will  make  an  imperfect 
lap.  The  brake  shoe  on  the  friction  motion  also  needs 
attention,  and  care  should  be  taken  not  to  allow  oil  to  get 
on  it. 


^  BackRolf 

/h'Dia. 


22% 


SecoHfl 


4" 


Front 


33 


41B  P  26 


21 
21 
21 


r,o 


3  "Dia. 
S/noof/i  Calender  Roll 


5 'Dia. 
Smooth  CalenderRoll 


12% 


/2"Dia. 
Fluted  CalenderRoll 


12"Dia. 
riided  CaleruferRoll 


Fig.  3 


8  COMBERS  §22 

10.  Fig.  3  is  the  plan  of  gearing  for  a  sliver-lap  machine; 
the  draft,  figured  from  the  front  fluted  calender  roll  to  the 
back  drawing  roll,  is  as  follows: 

12  X  21  X  12  X  72  X  21  X  26  X  24  X  64 


21  X  72  X  29  X  21  X  50  X  41  X  33  X  H 


=  1.954 


The  amount  of  draft  is  usually  from  1.75  to  2.5.  The 
weight  per  yard  for  a  72-inch  lap  for  medium  numbers  is 
from  230  to  300  grains  if  it  is  to  be  used  on  the  ribbon-lap 
machine,  and  from  200  to  250  grains  if  for  use  on  the  comber. 

The  5-inch  calender  rolls  of  the  sliver-lap  machine  make 
from  50  to  100  revolutions  per  minute,  and  the  machine  pro- 
duces from  400  to  950  pounds  per  day,  allowing  10  per  cent, 
for  stoppages.  The  weight  of  a  sliver-lap  machine  is  about 
2,200  pounds,  while  the  floor  space  occupied  is  about  5  feet 
32  inches  by  3  feet  1  inch.  About  1  horsepower  is  required 
to  drive  it.  

RIBBON-LAP  MACHINE 


CONSTRUCTIOM    AND    OPERATION 

11.  Object. —  It  is  not  absolutely  necessary  to  use  a 
ribbon-lap  macliine  in  the  combing  process,  as  the  laps 
from  the  sliver-lap  machine  may  be  taken  directly  to  the 
comber.  If,  however,  the  lap  from  the  sliver-lap  machine 
is  unrolled  for  about  a  yard  and  held  to  the  light,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  slivers  merely  lie  side  by  side,  and  that  the  lap 
is  uneven,  showing  both  thick  and  thin  places.  Therefore, 
to  have  a  more  even  lap,  the  ribbon-lap  machine  is  used. 
The  usual  doubling  on  the  ribbon-lap  machine  is  6  into  1, 
and  the  laps  fed  are  generally  1  inch  narrower  than  the  laps 
to  be   made  for  the  comber. 

12.  A  view  of  a  ribbon-lap  machine  is  shown  in  Fig.  4; 
Fig.  5  (a)  and  (b)  shows  sections  through  the  machine.  The 
laps  from  the  sliver-lap  machine  are  placed  on  the  wooden 
rolls  a,  a,,  Fig.  5  (a),  and  the  sheet  passes  over  the  plate  d, 
which  acts  both  as  a  guide  and  stop-motion.     On  the  under 


10 


COMBERS 


§22 


side  of  this  plate  is  a  hook  that  acts  similarly  to  the  bottom 
part  of  the  spoon  described  in  connection  with  the  sliver-lap 
machine.  There  is  a  slight  draft  between  the  wooden  lap 
rolls  and  the  back  drawing  rolls,  and  as  the  sheet  of  cotton 
passes  over  the  plate  by  the  tension  serves  to  hold  it  down. 
If  the  lap  breaks  or  the  spool  runs  empty,  the  plate  rises  and 
stops  the  machine. 

The  sheet  passes  from  the  plate  b  through  the  guides  c  to 
the  drawing  rolls  d,  </,,  d^,  d^.     The  cotton  then  passes  through 


these  drawing  rolls,  of  which  there  are  usually  four  pair, 
the  diameter  of  the  first,  third,  and  fourth,  counting  from  the 
front  of  the  machine,  being  \\  inches,  and  that  of  the  second, 
If  inches.  The  draft  between  the  front  and  back  drawing 
rolls  usually  about  equals  the  doublings.  The  drawing  rolls 
are  constructed  similarly  to  the  rolls  of  dra;wing  frames. 
The  top  rolls  are  weighted  by  dead-weights,  two  weights 
being  used  on  each  roll. 


§22  COMBERS  11 

From  the  front  drawing  roll,  the  sheet  of  cotton  passes 
over  a  curved  plate  c.  Figs.  4  and  5,  to  the  table  /,  along 
which  it  passes  at  right  angles  to  the  direction  in  which  it 
passed  through  the  drawing  rolls.  The  cotton,  in  passing 
from  the  curved  plate  to  the  table,  passes  between  the 
calender  rolls  g,  which  are  known  as  the  table  calender 
rolls.  In  front  of  each  pair  a  guide  finger  is  placed  on 
each  side  of  the  table  to  prevent  the  sheet  from  spreading. 
Each  sheet,  in  passing  from  the  driving  end  of  the  machine 
to  the  lap  head,  is  carried  under  the  sheet  that  is  next  to 
it  in  the  direction  of  the  lap  head.  The  table  calender  rolls 
serve  to  condense  the  several  layers  of  cotton  into  one  sheet 
and  to  pass  it  forwards.  From  the  last  pair  of  table  calender 
rolls,  the  sheet  passes  to  the  smooth  calender,  or  presser, 
rolls  of  the  lap  head. 

The  curved  plates  e,  over  which  the  cotton  passes  from  the 
drawing  rolls  to  the  table,  are  very  highly  polished.  In 
some  cases  the  plates  are  nickel-plated,  and  in  others  they 
are  covered  with  thin  sheet  brass,'  sheet  brass  taking  a 
better  polish  than  cast  iron,  of  which  the  plates  are  made. 
It  is  necessary  that  these  plates  be  kept  clean  and  polished, 
as  the  least  particle  of  dirt  or  oil  on  the  plates  will  cause  the 
ends  to  break,  and  as  there  is  no  stop-motion  on  this  part  of 
the  machine,  it  will  continue  to  run  until  stopped  by  the 
attendant,  thus  causing  uneven  laps  and  considerable  waste. 

The  lap  head  is  constructed  similar  to  the  one  on  the  sliver- 
lap  machine,  and  the  passage  of  the  cotton  through  it  is 
exactly  the  same  as  in  the  sliver-lap  machine. 

It  is  necessary  that  the  table  calender  rolls,  table,  and  lap 
head  be  perfectly  level  and  in  line;  if  they  are  not,  there  will 
be  some  difficulty  in  getting  the  several  sheets  to  run  to  the 
lap  head  properly. 

13.  Settings. — The  points  of  adjustment  and  setting 
are  the  same  as  on  the  sliver-lap  machine.  The  plate  for 
the  stop-motion  should  be  correctly  balanced;  the  distances 
from  center  to  center  of  the  drawing  rolls  should  be  properly 
regulated;  the  guides  should  be  so  adjusted  as  to  make  the 


12 


COxMBERS 


§22 


]l0ii-i^pu9injpaini 


Csl 


'Ufff„C 

not/  J'>m''>itK) 


lion 


^  japuJiUQ 


§M 


¥ 


§22       -  COMBERS  13 

sheets  of  the  desired  width;  and  the  racks  and  friction 
motion  of  the  lap  head  should  be  set  correctly,  as  mentioned 
in  connection  with  the  sliver-lap  machine. 

14.  The  speed  of  the  5-inch  calender  rolls  of  the  ribbon- 
lap  machine  is  from  80  to  110  revolutions  per  minute.  The 
production  varies  from  600  to  1,100  pounds  per  day  of 
10  hours  with  10  per  cent,  allowed  for  stoppages.  This 
machine  weighs  about  4,500  pounds  with  all  w&ights  attached, 
and  requires  1  horsepower  to  drive  it.  The  floor  space 
required  is  about  14  feet  2  inches  by  4  feet. 

15.  Fig.  6  is  the  plan  of  gearing  for  a  ribbon-lap  machine; 
the  draft,  figured  from  the  front  fluted  calender  roll  to  the 
back  drawing  roll,  with  a  50-tooth  draft  gear,  is  as  follows: 

12  X  30  X  21  X  14  X  20  X  68  X  100  X  70 


30  X  50  X  21  X  40  X  72  X  25  X  50  X  I2- 


=  5.923 


SINGLE-NIP   COMBER 


CONSTRUCTION    AND    OPERATION 

16.  The  comber  is  employed  to  select,  from  cotton  that 
has  been  carded,  the  fibers  suitable  for  the  class  of  yarn 
required.  In  addition  to  removing  the  fibers  that  are  below 
the  standard  length,  it  combs  the  fibers  to  be  used  and  makes 
them  lie  in  parallel  positions.  It  also  takes  out  neps,  dirt, 
and  foreign  matter  that  were  not  removed  in  the  previous 
processes.  The  combing  machine  commonly  used,  which 
depends  on  a  combination  of  somewhat  intricate  movements 
for  the  attainment  of  its  objects,  was  invented  by  M.  Heil- 
mann,  of  Mulhouse,  in  Alsace,  German}^  Although  numer- 
ous improvements  have  been  added  by  other  inventors,  it  is 
still  spoken  of  as  the  Heilmann  comber. 

A  comber  is  divided  into  several  sections,  called  heads; 
and  as  now  constructed  usually  contains  six  or  eight  heads, 
although  it  may  be  constructed  with  a  larger  or  smaller  num- 
ber, as  required.     Each  head  is  complete  in  itself  and  receives 


14  COMBERS  §22 

one  of  the  laps  deliv^ered  by  the  ribbon-lap  machine,  but  the 
motions  for  all  the  heads  derive  their  power  from  the  same 
source.  While  each  head  is  complete  in  itself,  correspond- 
ing parts  of  each  head  must  act  at  the  same  time,  the  results 
obtained  depending  on  the  accuracy  with  which  the  corre- 
sponding parts  of  each  head  work  together. 

17.  Passage  of  the  Stock. — Briefly  stated,  the  laps 
from  the  ribbon-lap  machine  are  placed  on  lap  rolls  and  are 
fed  intermittently  by  a  pair  of  feed-rolls.  When  the  laps 
from  the  ribbon-lap  machine  are  used,  they  should  not  weigh 
more  than  300  grains  per  yard,  and  when  laps  are  used  that 
come  directly  from  the  sliver-lap  machine,  they  should  not 
be  heavier  than  260  grains  per  yard.  The  fringe  of  cotton  is 
gripped  by  a  pair  of  nippers,  which  holds  it  in  such  a  posi- 
tion that  it  will  be  acted  on  by  a  cylinder  having  a  portion 
of  its  circumference  covered  with  steel  points.  These  points, 
or  needles  as  they  are  called,  remove  short  fibers,  neps,  and 
foreign  substances  that  were  not  removed  in  the  previous 
processes;  this  waste  is  then  taken  from  the  needles  by  a 
revolving  brush  and  ultimately  arrives  at  the  waste  can. 

During  this  operation,  the  fringe  of  cotton  that  is  being 
combed  is  entirely  separate  from  the  fringe  of  cotton  previ- 
ously combed,  and  therefore,  in  order  to  have  the  product 
delivered  in  a  continuous  sliver,  it  is  necessary  to  detach  the 
newly  combed  fibers  from  those  not  combed,  and  also  to 
bring  back  a  portion  of  the  cotton  previously  combed  so  that 
it  may  be  pieced  up  with  the  fibers  that  have  just  undergone 
the  combing  operation.  After  piecing-up  has  been  effected, 
the  cotton  just  combed  is  carried  forwards  and  the  rear  ends 
of  the  fibers  receive  a  combing  action  by  means  of  a  top 
comb,  which  tends  to  remove  still  more  short  fibers.  This 
cycle  of  operations  is  then  repeated  with  a  new  group  of 
fibers,  resulting  in  the  production  of  a  continuous  web  of 
combed  fibers,  which  is  drawn  through  a  trumpet  that  con- 
denses it  into  a  sliver  and  is  then  delivered  on  a  table, 
together  with  similar  slivers  from  the  other  heads  of  the 
comber.      From    the    table    the    cotton    passes    through    a 


I 


JL 


Fi 


I 


"I  i — 


t 


§22  COMBERS  15 

draw-box  and  then  through  a  trumpet  that  condenses  all  the 
slivers  into  one,  which  is  placed  in  a  can  by  a  coiler  similar 
to  that  used  on  the  card. 

18.  Principal  Motions  of  the  Comber. — The  several 
actions  of  a  comber  must  necessarily  work  intermittently,  as 
it  would  be  impossible  to  run  a  lap  of  cotton  continuously 
and  to  draw  a  comb  through  it.  For  this  reason  the  tuft  of 
cotton  being  combed  must  be  held  firmly  at  the  time  of  the 
combing,  first  at  one  end  and  then  at  the  other,  and  in  order 
to  do  this,  the  feed  must  be  stopped.  The  various  motions 
may  be  summarized  as  follows:  (1)  The  feed-motion,  by 
which  the  lap  is  fed  to  the  machine;  (2)  the  nipper  motion, 
which  holds  the  cotton  during  the  combing  operation;  (3)  the 
combing  operation  by  the  half  lap;  (4)  the  backward  and 
forward  motion  of  the  delivery  roll,  or  the  piecing-up  motion; 
(5)  combing  by  the  top  comb;  (6)  the  delivery  of  the  stock 
to  the  calender  rolls,  draw-box,  and  coiler. 


FEED-MOTION 

19.  Views  of  a  comber  are  given  in  Figs.  7  and  8,  and 
a  sectional  view  is  shown  in  Fig.  9.  It  will  also  be  of  advan- 
tage in  studying  the  different  parts  of  the  comber  to  make 
frequent  reference  to  Fig.  27,  which  shows  a  plan  of  the  gear- 
ing of  this  machine.  In  describing  the  comber  it  will  only  be 
necessary  to  deal  with  one  head,  as  each  head  performs  the 
same  work.  The  lap  b,  Fig.  9,  is  placed  on  the  lap  rolls  a,  a,, 
and,  as  it  unrolls,  the  sheet  passes  over  the  apron  a^  to  a  pair 
of  feed-rolls  r.  r,.  The  apron  a^  rests  at  an  angle  of  about  45° 
and  terminates  a  little  above  the  nip  of  the  two  feed-rolls  c,  c,. 
The  apron  may  be  so  adjusted  that  it  will  assume  a  greater 
or  less  angle,  and  it  is  also  possible  to  regulate  its  dis- 
tance from  the  feed-rolls.  This  apron  is  usually  made  of 
sheet  iron,  its  upper  surface  being  polished  or  tinned  so  that 
there  will  be  as  little  friction  as  possible  on  the  cotton.  The 
lower  edge  of  the  apron  carries  a  brush,  the  ends  of  the 
bristles  of  which  just  touch  the  bottom  feed-roll  and  keep  it 
clean.     This  brush  is  adjustable  in  such  a  manner  that  the 


16 


COMBERS 


22 


correct  contact  of  the  ends  of  the  bristles  and  the  bottom 
feed-roll  may  be  maintained  as  the  brush  wears. 

20.  Feed-Rolls. — The  lower  feed-roll  c  is  constructed 
in  one  piece  and  is  long  enough  to  serve  for  all  the  heads. 
It  is  fluted  in  sections  corresponding  in  number  to  the 
number  of  heads  of  the  comber.  Each  section,  or  head,  has 
a  top  roll  f,,  which  is  slightly  longer  than  the  width  of  each 
lap.  This  top  roll  is  made  of  steel  and  is  fluted  to  corre- 
spond   with    the   flutes   of    the   lower  roll.     It  resembles   a 


metallic  roll,  with  the  exception  that  it  has  no  collars;  its 
flutes  also  have  a  little  finer  pitch.  It  is  held  in  direct 
contact  with  the  bottom  roll  by  means  of  an  arm  r^  and  a 
spring  ^3,  as  shown  in  Fig.  9,  and  receives  motion  from 
the  lower  roll.  The  lower  feed-roll  is  usually  about  f  inch 
in  diameter.  The  objects  of  these  feed-rolls  are:  (1)  To 
revolve  and  deliver  a  certain  length  of  cotton  to  the  combing 
mechanism;  (2)  to  stop  revolving  after  the  desired  length 
has  been  delivered  and  to  remain  stationary  while  the 
combing  action  takes  place. 


^22  COMBERS  17 

The  method  by  which  the  feed-roll  receives  an  intermittent 
motion  is  shown  in  Fig.  10.  The  feed-roll  receives  its 
motion  from  the  cylinder  shaft  o^y  in  the  following  manner. 
The  gear  b  is  fast  to  the  cylinder  shaft  and  carries  a  disk 
plate  To  from  which  a  pin  <-«  projects.  A  short  distance  from 
the  center  of  the  cylinder  shaft  is  a  stud  carrying  a  star 
gear  c^.  The  pin  d  engaging  with  the  teeth  of  this  star  gear 
turns  it  during  a  part  of  a  revolution  of  the  cylinder  shaft. 
The  star  gear  is  so  constructed  that  after  the  pin  has 
engaged  with  one  tooth  and  turned  it,  the  next  tooth  will  be 
in  position  to  engage  with  the  pin  at  the  next  revolution 
of  0^.  Compounded  with  the  star  gear  c^  is  a  gear  c^  that 
meshes  with  a  gear  c  on  the  lower  feed-roll  c.  Thus,  it  will 
be  seen  that  for  every  revolution  of  the  shaft  Os  the  feed-roll 
is  turned  a  portion  of  a  revolution  and  the  cotton  fed  to  that 
extent.  This  intermittent  action  of  the  feed-rolls  is  trans- 
mitted to  the  lap  rolls,  as  the  lap  rolls  are  driven  from  the 
lower  feed-roll.  

NIPPERS 

21.  The  fringe  of  cotton  that  is  fed  by  this  intermittent 
action  of  the  feed-rolls  passes  forwards  to  the  mechanism 
that  holds  it  during  the  combing  process,  which  is  known  as 
the  nippei's.  By  a  combination  of  levers,  the  nippers  are 
made  to  act  in  such  a  manner  that  they  open  to  receive  the 
cotton  delivered  from  the  feed-rolls  and  then  close  and  grip 
the  cotton  after  it  has  been  passed  to  them.  They  again 
open  and  release  the  cotton  after  it  has  been  combed  by  the 
half  lap  and  remain  in  this  position  until  the  next  portion  of 
cotton  has  been  delivered  to  them.  The  nippers  and  their 
attached  levers  are  shown  in  Fig.  11,  reference  being  made 
to  this  figure  and  also  to  Fig.  12  in  the  following  description. 

22,  Cusliion  Plate.  —  The  nippers  are  composed  of 
two  separate  parts,  both  capable  of  being  moved.  The 
lower  part  //  consists  of  what  is  known  as  the  cushion 
plate,  Fig.  11.  It  consists  of  a  flat  metal  plate  slightly 
longer  than  the  width  of  the  lap.  The  round  nose  //,  of 
the  plate.  Fig.  11,  is  usually  covered  with  a  strip  of  leather 


18 


COMBERS 


§22 


similar  to  that  used  for  covering  rolls,  and  is  fastened  by 
metal  strips  h^,  h,.  This  leather  acts  as  a  cushion  and 
prevents  the  fibers  from  being  injured  when  pressed  against 


f^ww 


the  plate.  The  cushion  plate  is  made  fast  to  the  frame  i  by 
means  of  three  screws,  which  are  inserted  on  the  under  side 
of  the  plate;  one  of  these  screws  //^  is  shown  in  Figs.  11,  12, 
and  13.     In  some  cases  the  cushion  is  applied  to  the  nipper 


^22 


COMBERS 


19 


knife  in  place  of  the  plate.  When  this  is  done  a  strip  of 
leather  about  -A  inch  thick  and  f  inch  wide  is  used,  and  is 
fastened  to  the  nipper  knife  by  a  strip  of  steel  and  small 


^i!  ^  ^    11^;  cg^ 


screws,  the  lower  part  of  the  steel  strip  acting  as  the  over- 
hanging lip  of  the  nipper  knife. 

23.     Nipper  Knife.— The  upper  part  dd.,  of  the  nippers 
in  Fig.  11,  is  known  as  the  nipper  knife.      It  consists  of  a 


20  COMBERS  §22 

flat  bar  of  steel;  the  lower  edge  is  usually  fluted  and  has  an 
overhanging  lip  di.  The  nipper  knife  is  supported  by  two 
arms  e,  Fig.  11,  which  are  connected  to  the  frame  /  by  the 
shaft  Ci.  Two  stands  and  brackets  /, /,,  Fig.  11,  support 
the  Jrame  i  by  means  of  studs  i^.  As  the  cotton  must  be 
gripped  between  the  nipper  knife  d  and  the  cushion  plate  h, 
it  is  evident  that  these  parts  must  have  a  movement  that  will 
change  their  position  from  that  shown  in  Fig.  11.  This  is 
accomplished  by  the  movement  of  the  nipper  knife. 

As  shown  in  Fig.  11,  the  arms  e  extend  beyond  e^  in  the 
direction  opposite  to  that  of  the  nipper  knife.  This  forms  a 
connection  for  the  rod  g,  Fig.  12,  that  is  connected  to  the 
lever  g^,  while  this  lever  is  connected  to  the  shaft  g^. 
Extending  from  the  shaft  g.  is  an  arm  g^,  the  end  of  which 
carries  a  cam-bowl  that  works  in  the  cam-course  of  the 
cam  g^  on  the  shaft/,  known  as  the  cam-shaft.  The  shaft  g^ 
runs  the  entire  length  of  the  heads,  and  the  nipper  rods  g 
for  each  head  are  connected  to  it  by  the  method  shown. 
The  shaft  g^  receives  an  oscillating  motion  from  the  cam 
and,  in  turn,  imparts  a  similar  motion  to  the  shaft  (?,  of  each 
head.  The  arms  e  being  connected  to  this  shaft,  the  nipper 
knife  will  rise  and  fall,  its  lowest  and  highest  positions  being 
indicated  by  the  full  and  dotted  lines  in  Fig.  12. 

When  the  nippers  receive  the  cotton,  they  are  in  the  posi- 
tion shown  in  Fig.  11,  but  as  soon  as  the  proper  amount  has 
been  fed,  the  nipper  knife  descends,  through  the  action  of 
the  cam,  and  firmly  grips  the  fringe  of  cotton  between  itself 
and  the  cushion  plate,  the  cushion  plate  at  this  point  being 
in  the  position  shown  by  the  dotted  lines  in  Fig.  12.  When 
the  knife  has  securely  gripped  the  fringe  of  cotton,  however, 
the  cushion  plate  is  not  in  the  proper  position  to  allow  the 
cotton  to  be  combed,  and  it  must  be  lowered  so  that  it  will 
assume  the  position  shown  by  the  full  lines  in  Fig.  12.  In 
order  to  accomplish  this,  the  knife,  which  has  not  reached 
the  full  extent  of  its  travel  when  it  comes  in  contact  with  the 
cushion  plate,  is  forced  farther  down  by  the  cam  and  carries 
the  cushion  plate  with  it.  The  cushion  plate  is  capable  of 
being   forced   down,  since   it   is   suspended   by  the   studs  z^, 


I 


22 


COMBERS 


21 


Fi<j.  11,  which  project  from  the  frame  /  and  have  bearings 
on  the  bracket  /.  connected  to  the  stand  /.  Thus,  the  entire 
frame  /  can  swing  on  the  studs  /,  and  cause  the  cushion 
plate  //  to  come  nearer  the  cylinder.  By  this  movement  the 
cushion  plate  and  the  front  lip  of  the  knife  are  brought  close 
to  the  needles,  thus  enabling  the  cotton  to  be  combed  very 
close  to  the  grip. 

As  the  nipper  knife  is  raised  by  the  action  of  the  cam,  the 
swing  frame  /  is  brought  back  to  its  original  position  by 
means  of  the  springs  /s,  Fig.  11.     These  springs  are  always 


tending  to  pull  the  cushion  plate  up,  but  when  the  knife 
moves  downwards,  the  tension  of  the  springs  is  overcome  by 
the  positive  motion  of  the  knife  received  from  the  cam.  The 
position  of  the  cushion  plate  when  the  knife  is  not  pressing 
on  it  is  governed  by  the  distance  that  the  setscrew  ?3  projects 
through  the  bracket  /,.  The  setscrew  comes  in  contact  with 
the  stand  /  and  prevents  the  swing  frame  from  moving  any 
farther,  but  the  knife  continues  to  rise  and  thus  the  nipper  is 
opened  and  the  fringe  of  cotton  released. 

24.     As  the  needles  o-,  shown  in  Fig.  15  pass  through  the 
fringe  of  cotton   projecting  beyond   the  nippers,   there  is  a 


22 


COMBERS 


22 


tendency  of  the  lap  to  spread,  which  is  also  increased  by  the 
operation  of  the  feed-Tolls.  In  order  to  avoid  this  spreading, 
a  device  is  used  on  the  cushion  plate,  a  view  of  which  is  given 
in  Figs.  13  and  14.  It  consists  of  a  plate  /u  placed  at  each 
end  of  the  cushion  plate.  These  plates  carry  two  projecting 
pieces  h,,  h^,  between  which  the  nipper  knife  descends, 
/?,  being  curved  so  that  the  knife  will  not  come  in  contact 
with  it.  By  this  means,  it  is  practically  impossible  for  the 
lap  to  spread  when  being  combed. 


Fig.  14 


COMBING     OPERATION     BY    THE    HALF    LAP 

25.  Cylinder. — The  cylinder  consists  of  three  principal 
parts — the  central  stock,  or  barrel,  Oi,  Fig.  15,  the  half 
lap  Oi,  and  the  fluted  segment  o^ — the  other  parts  o^  and  ^5 
being  known  as  niaking-up  pieces.  The  central  stock  is 
secured  to  the  cylinder  shaft  0^  by  means  of  screws.  The 
outside  of  this  stock  is  shaped  so  as  to  receive  the  half  lap 
and  the  fluted  segment,  which  are  secured  to  it  by  screws,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  15.  The  half  lap  is  composed  of  two  parts — 
the  comb  stock  and  the  matrices.  The  comb  stock  is  formed  to 
receive  a  series  of  matrices,  or  strips,  0^,  to  which  are  fastened 
seventeen  rows  of  needles  o,  made  of  round  steel  tapered  to  a 


§22 


COMBERS 


23 


point.  These  needles  are  so  spaced  that  their  number  varies 
from  thirty  to  ninety  per  inch,  while  the  diameter  decreases  as 
the  number  per  inch  increases;  thus,  the  needles  in  the  front 
row  of  the  half  lap — that  is,  those  that  come  in  contact  with 
the  cotton  first — are  the  most  widely  spaced,  and  are  also  of 
the  largest  diameter;  the  number  of  needles  in  the  succeed- 
ing   rows    increases,   until    the   finest   spacing,    that   is,    the 


largest  number  per  inch,  occurs  in  the  seventeenth  row,  in 
which  there  are  ninety  needles  per  inch,  the  needles  in  this 
row  being  also  of  the  smallest  diameter.  For  medium  work, 
the  number  of  rows  of  each  number  of  wire  from  which  the 
needles  are  constructed  is  as  follows,  commencing  with  the 
front  row  of  the  half  lap  and  following  in  the  order  named: 
Four  rows  of  20s,  three  rows  of  22s,  two  rows  of  24s,  two 
rows  of  26s,  two  rows  of  28s,  three  rows  of  30s,  and  one  row 
of  33s.     For  very  fine  work,  the  arrangement  of  the  needles 


24  COMBERS  §22 

is  sometimes  as  follows:  Six  rows  of  22s,  three  rows  of  24s, 
two  rows  of  26s,  two  rows  of  28s,  two  rows  of  30s,  and  two 
rows  of  33s. 

When  setting  the  needles  they  are  placed  in  a  gauge,  point 
down.  The  matrix  to  hold  them  is  placed  against  the  row  of 
large  ends  while  the  needles  are  in  the  gauge  and  they  are 
then  soldered  to  the  matrix,  after  which  the  gauge  is  removed. 
The  matrices  to  which  the  needles  are  attached  are  usually 
made  of  brass  and  planed  and  shaped  so  as  to  lie  accurately  in 
their  proper  positions,  in  order  to  give  the  needles  the  correct 
angle  when  they  are  secured  by  the  setscrews  that  hold  them 
to  the  comb  stock.  By  having  the  half  lap  constructed  in  this 
manner,  it  is  a  simple  matter  to  remove  it  from  the  machine 
when  a  row  of  needles  becomes  injured,  and  then  by  remov- 
ing the  matrix  the  damaged  needles  may  be  readily  replaced. 
In  addition  to  having  the  rows  of  points  of  the  needles  in  the 
half  lap  concentric,  each  row  of  needles  should  be  exactly  par- 
allel with  the  cylinder  shaft.  The  width  over  all  of  each  row 
of  needles  is  usually  a  little  in  excess  of  the  width  of  the  lap, 
so  that  the  edges  of  the  lap  will  receive  an  effective  combing. 

As  the  cylinder  shaft  on  which  the  half  lap  is  mounted  is 
constantly  revolving,  it  will  be  seen  that  each  fringe  of  cotton 
gripped  by  the  nippers  will  be  subjected  to  the  action  of  the 
half  lap.  This  action  takes  place  immediately  after  the 
cotton  has  been  gripped  by  the  nippers  and  the  cushion  plate 
has  been  forced  down  by  the  nipper  knife.  The  half  lap  is 
placed  on  the  cylinder  in  such  a  position  that  the  largest  and 
heaviest  needles  are  caused  to  act  first  on  the  fringe  of  cotton 
to  be  combed,  in  order  that  they  may  do  the  heaviest  work 
and  make  it  easier  for  the  finer  needles  that  follow  and  give 
a  more  effective  combing.  Any  fibers  that  are  not  held 
firmly  by  the  nippers  are  combed  from  the  fringe  of  cotton, 
so  that  only  fibers  of  sufficient  length  are  left.  In  addition 
to  these  short  fibers,  dirt  and  neps  are  also  removed,  while 
the  fibers  held  by  the  nippers  are  combed  out  and  laid  parallel. 

The  short  fibers  and  foreign  matter  that  are  removed  from 
the  fringe  are  carried  by  the  needles  of  the  half  lap  until  the 
brush  p.  Fig.  9,  removes  them   and   deposits   them   on  the 


§22  COMBERS  25 

doffer  r,  which  works  at  a  much  slower  speed  than  the  brush. 
The  doffer  has  its  surface  covered  with  a  clothing,  composed 
usually  of  leather,  having  heavy  wire  teeth  inserted  in  it  at 
an  angle.  The  doffer  is  not  in  direct  contact  with  the  brush, 
but  as  the  brush  revolves,  the  centrifugal  force  throws  out 
the  short  fibers,  and  the  needles  of  the  doffer  are  thus  enabled 
to  secure  them. 

26.  The  Doffer  Comb. — As  r  revolves,  the  waste  is 
stripped  from  it  by  means  of  a  comb  r^  that  acts  on  the 
same  principle  as  the  doffer  comb  of  a  card.  The  waste 
then  drops  into  a  can,  there  usually  being  one  can  for  two 
heads.  In  some  cases,  however,  the  waste  is  wound  on  a 
roll.  At  the  back  of  the  cylinder,  brush,  and  part  of  the 
doffer  there  is  a  tin  cover  />3,  Fig.  9,  which  is  of  a  special 
shape,  made  in  one  piece  and  called  the  brush  tin.  Another 
cover,  known  as  the  waste  chute,  covers  the  cylinder  and 
brush  on  the  other  side,  and  is  shown  at  />«.  These  covers 
prevent  the  escape  of  waste  and  also  act  as  a  protection 
against  any  foreign  substance  coming  in  contact  with  the 
moving  parts.  

PIECING-UP    MOTION 

27.  After  the  cotton  has  been  combed  and  the  nippers 
opened,  the  fringe  of  cotton  comes  under  the  action  of  the 
pieciiig-up  uiotion.  It  should  be  understood  that  the 
fringe  of  cotton  being  combed  is  not  connected  to  the  cotton 
previously  combed,  and  in  order  to  have  a  continuous  sliver, 
each  fringe  of  cotton  is  pieced  up  to  the  cotton  immediately 
in  front  of  it.  In  order  to  accomplish  this,  a  portion  of  the 
previously  combed  cotton  must  be  returned,  while  the  fringe 
must  be  in  a  position  to  be  attached  to  it  and  carried  forwards. 

It  is  the  object  of  the  fluted  segment,  which  is  a  part  of 
the  cylinder,  to  support  the  fringe  of  cotton  that  has  just 
undergone  the  combing  action.  The  finely  fluted  surface  of 
the  segment  is  at  such  a  distance  from  the  center  of  the 
cylinder  shaft  that  it  can  come  in  contact  with  the  under 
side  of  the  combed  fringe  and  thus  support  it  until  it  is 
detached.     A  view  of  the  segment  supporting  the  fringe  is 


26 


COMBERS 


§22 


shown  in  Fig.  16.  When  the  fringe  is  held  in  the  position 
shown,  the  operation  of  piecing-up  and  detaching  is  per- 
formed by  three  rolls  q,  s,  t;  g  is  sometimes  termed  the 
leather  detaching  ?vll;  s,  the  steet  detaching  jvll;  and  t,  the 
brass  roll.  In  other  instances  t  is  called  the  piecing  roll.  In 
this  Section,  however,  g  will  be  known  as  the  leather  detach- 
ing roll;  s,  the  delivery  roll;  and  /,  the  top  roll.  These 
names  are  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  duties  and  positions 

of  the  rolls,  as  g  de- 
taches the  cotton,  and, 
although  5  assists  in 
this  operation,  its 
chief  function  is  to 
deliver  the  cotton 
after  it  has  been  de- 
tached. The  roll  / 
also  aids  in  delivering 
the  cotton,  and  as  it 
is  directly  above  the 
delivery  roll,  it  may 
be  termed  the  top  roll. 

28.    The  delivery 

roll  ^  is  made  in  one 
piece  long  enough 
to  serve  for  all  the 
heads.  Opposite 
each  head  is  a  fluted 
section,  the  flutes 
usually  being  spaced 
differently  from  those 
of  the  feed-roll.  When  a  lap  82  inches  in  width  is  used,  the 
fluted  section  is  generally  11  inches  wide  and  contains  about 
fifty  flutes  for  each  inch  of  diameter.  The  diameter  of  the 
roll  is  usually  f  inch.  The  roll  revolves  in  bearings  on  the 
framework  and  is  in  such  a  position  that  it  is  just  clear  of 
the  needles  of  the  half  lap  and  the  segment.  The  parts  of 
the  bearings  in  contact  with  the  roll  are  usually  made  of  brass. 


Fig. 16 


§22 


COMBERS 


27 


29.  The  leather  detaching:  roll  q.  Fig,  17,  is  in  con- 
tact with  the  delivery  roll.  The  leather  portion  of  the 
detaching  roll  is  slightly  wider  than  the  fluted  segment  of  the 


Fig.  17 


cylinder  and  resembles  a  top  roll  of  the  common  type,  being 
shown  in  Fig.  18.     The  boss  of  the  roll  is  generally  about 


r-Htnrto 


'  Fig. ]8 

10^^  inches  in  length  and  It  inch  in  diameter.     The  skins 
used  for  covering  should  be  of  the  finest  quality,  as  so  few 


28 


COMBERS 


22 


fibers  are  dealt  with  that  any  irregularity  of  the  roll  produces 
bad  work.  This  roll  has  brass  bushings  q,.  Fig.  18,  for 
bearings,    which   are   supported   by  the   blocks   Z^,    Fig.    17. 


is  shown  in  this  figure. 


The  bushings  are  held  in  place 
against  the  blocks  by  means  of 
weight  hooks  q.,  connected  to  the 
weights,  as  shown  in  Fig.  19,  the 
hooks  having  a  direct  pressure  on 
the  brass  bushings  of  the  leather 
detaching  roll.  This  keeps  the 
leather  portion  of  the  detaching 
roll  pressed  against  the  delivery 
roll,  and  when  the  comber  is  to  be 
stopped  for  any  length  of  time, 
the  pressure  should  be  relieved  by 
placing  the  arms  q^,  Fig.  19,  of  the 
hooks  ^2  on  a  rod  that  extends  the 
length  of  the  heads.  This  prevents 
the  leather  from  becoming  injured 
during  the  time  that  the  machine 
is  not  in  action.  The  blocks  h, 
Fig.  17,  with  which  the  bushings 
are  in  contact,  are  supported  by 
means  of  brackets  /j,  one  of  which 
Each   head   requires  two  of  these 


brackets,  which  are  fast  to  the  shaft  /,,  which  is  long  enough 


I 


§22  COMBERS  29 

to  serve  for  two  heads  and  consequently  to  support  four 
brackets.  The  shafts  have  bearings  on  the  framing  of  the 
comber  and  are  capable  of  being  moved.  The  brackets,  with 
their  connections,  are  known  as  the  horschcad,  or  lifter. 

30.  The  top  roll  /,  Fig.  17,  is  generally  constructed  of 
brass  and  contains  flutes  that  correspond  to  the  flutes  of  the 
delivery  roll.  The  fluted  section,  however,  is  usually  a  little 
shorter  than  the  fluted  section  of  the  delivery  roll.  This  roll 
is  supported  by  brackets  /,,  fast  to  the  shaft  A,  and,  as  the 
bearings  of  the  roll  are  pivoted  at  /a,  the  top  roll  is  always  in 
contact  with  the  delivery  roll. 

31.  Operation  of  the  Kolls.— In  order  that  these  rolls 
may  detach  the  combed  cotton  from  the  remainder  of  the 
lap,  they  must  be  close  enough  to  the  fluted  segment  to 
secure  the  cotton  at  the  time  of  detaching.  The  position  of 
the  rolls  when  detaching  is  shown  in  Fig.  16.  By  a  compari- 
son of  this  figure  with  Fig.  15,  it  is  obvious  that  if,  during 
the  combing  operation,  the  detaching  roll  were  in  the  position 
that  it  occupies  when  detaching,  the  needles  of  the  half  lap 
would  come  in  contact  with  the  detaching  roll."  It  is  there- 
fore necessary  that  the  position  of  the  detaching  roll  should 
be  alternately  changed  so  that  the  roll  will  be  near  enough 
to  the  segment  to  secure  the  fibers  when  detaching  and  also 
be  out  of  the  path  of  the  needles  during  the  combing  action. 
In  order  to  effect  this  change  in  the  position  of  the  detaching 
roll,  it  is  necessary  to  give  the  shaft  /,,  Fig.  17,  which  is 
primarily  the  support  for  the  roll,  a  partial  revolution.  As 
shown  in  Fig.  17,  there  extends  from  the  short  shaft  /,  an 
arm  k^,  which,  with  other  connections,  serves  to  connect  /, 
with  the  shaft  k.  The  connection  between  /,  and  k  is 
jointed  at  k^  and  k,,;  consequently,  if  /■  revolves  it  will 
turn  /,  without  tending  to  lift  it  in  its  bearings.  There 
are  three  of  these  connections  for  a  comber  of  six  heads, 
there  being  one  for  each  shaft  /,.  The  shaft  k  is  similar 
to  the  shaft  g^  shown  in  Fig.  12  and  extends  the  entire 
length  of  the  heads.  Fig.  9  shows  the  relative  positions 
of  these  shafts. 


30  COMBERS  §22 

Extending  from  the  shaft  k  is  an  arm  X%,  Fig.  17,  which 
carries  at  its  other  end  a  cam-bowl  that  runs  in  the  course  of 
the  lifter,  or  horsehead,  camyi.  This  cam  is  on  the  shaft  with, 
and  very  close  to,  the  nipper  cam  g^  shown  in  Fig.  12.  As  the 
cam-shaft/  revolves,  the  shaft  k  receives  an  oscillating  motion 
that  is  transmitted  to  the  shaft  h  by  means  of  the  connections 
previously  described.  This  motion  of  /,  swings  the  horse- 
head  with  /,  as  a  center  and  thus  brings  the  leather  detaching 
roll  q  in  contact  with  the  fluted  segment,  as  shown  in  Fig.  16. 
The  range  of  movement  of  the  horsehead  is  shown  by  the 
full  and  dotted  lines  in  Fig.  17.  The  full  lines  show  the  posi- 
tion of  the  horsehead  and  rolls  during  the  combing  process,  or 
when  the  roll  is  out  of  the  path  of  the  half  lap,  while  the  dotted 
lines  show  the  position  of  the  horsehead  and  rolls  when  the 
detaching  roll  is  in  the  position  it  assumes  when  in  operation. 

As  previously  stated,  the  detaching  roll  q  is  supported  and 
its  motion  governed  through  being  held  firmly  against  the 
blocks  L  of  the  brackets  /„  Fig.  17,  by  the  weights  q^. 
Fig.  19.  When,  however,  the  horsehead  is  moved  back  to 
the  limit  of  its  motion,  shown  by  the  dotted  lines  in  Fig.  17, 
the  blocks  h  are  so  far  back  that  they  are  not  in  contact  with 
the  brass  bushings  of  the  detaching  roll.  The  leather  por- 
tion of  the  roll,  however,  has  a  bearing  directly  on  the  fluted 
segment,  as  shown  in  Fig,  16.  As  the  weights  q^,  shown  in 
Fig.  19,  are  holding  the  detaching  roll  against  the  fluted 
segment,  it  is  obvious  that  the  fringe  of  cotton  will  be  effect- 
ively gripped  between  them.  The  detaching  roll  is  at  all 
times  in  contact  with  the  delivery  roll,  around  which  it  moves 
with  the  action  of  the  horsehead.  As  the  top  roll  is  connected 
to  the  shaft  /,,  it  also  has  a  movement  similar  to  the  detach- 
ing roll,  and  consequently  moves  around  the  delivery  roll 
and  assumes  the  position  shown  in  Fig.  16.  A  clearer  t^. 
Fig.  17,  which  is  above  the  top  roll  and  serves  to  keep  it 
clean,  is  also  supported  by  the  bearings  that  support  the 
top  roll  and  has  a  motion  similar  to  this  roll. 

32.  In  addition  to  the  rolls  being  placed  in  the  required 
positions,   they   must    also    have   a    rotary   motion    in    both 


§22 


COMBERS 


31 


directions  in  order  to  carry  back  a  portion  of  the  cotton  pre- 
viously combed,  to  which  the  detached  portion  must  be  con- 
nected in  order  to  deliver  the  cotton  in  a  continuous  line. 
The  mechanism  by  means  of  which  the  delivery  roll  derives  a 
motion  in  both  directions  is  shown  in  Figs.  20,21,  and  22. 
This  motion  is  also  imparted,  by  means  of  frictional  contact, 
to  the  detaching-  roll  and  top  roll.  The  mechanism  shown  in 
these  figures  consists  of  a  cam  s,  situated  on  the  cam-shaft  J, 
which  also  supports  the  nipper  cam  and  the  cam  for  placing 


Fig.  20 

the  detaching  roll  in  position.  Running  in  the  cam-course 
of  Si  is  a  bowl  s^  fastened  at  one  end  of  a  lever  v,  the  lever 
being  pivoted  on  a  shaft  z',  borne  by  the  frame  of  the  machine. 
The  other  end  of  the  lever  has  a  pawl  v^  hinged  to  it  at  zu, 
which  is  connected  to  an  auxiliary  lever  v^,;  z-n  also  carries 
a  bowl  V,  in  contact  with  a  cam  s^,  which  is  in  a  position  adjoin- 
ing 5,.  It  wall  be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  action  of  the  pawl  z\ 
will  be  governed  by  the  two  cams  Si,  s^,  through  the  levers  v,  v^. 
The  pawl  v.,  is  shown  as  being  over  the  gear  v^.  It  is  held 
in  this  position  by  an  arm  similar  to  v  situated  on  the  other 


32 


COMBERS 


§22 


side  of  the  gear  z\.  This  second  arm  does  not  have  any 
cam-bowl  but,  being  connected  to  the  other,  forms  a  good 
support  for  the  pawl  v^  that  engages  with  the  teeth  of  the 
gear  z\.  The  construction  of  the  gear  v^  is  shown  in  Fig.  20. 
This  gear  is  fixed  to  the  shaft  7',,  on  which  z'  is  pivoted.  On 
the  same  shaft  with  the  gear  i\  is  an  annular  gear  lu  enga- 
ging with  a  gear  on  the  delivery  roll  s,  the  relative  position 
of  which  with  the  cylinder  o  is  shown  in  Fig.  20.  The  back- 
ward and  forward  motions  required  of  the  delivery  roll  must 
be  imparted  by  the  pawl  v.  through  the  gears  z\,  zu  and  the 


gear  on  the  delivery  roll,  the  extent  of  the  movement  of  the 
delivery  roll  being  governed  by  the  movement  of  the  gear  z\ 
and  the  relative  number  of  teeth  in  the  gears  by  which  the 
delivery  roll  is  driven. 

33.  The  manner  in  which  the  pawl  acts  on  the  gear  v^ 
may  be  seen  by  reference  to  Figs.  20,  21,  and  22.  The 
pawl  z'j  is  always  tending  to  be  drawn  toward  the  gear  zu  by 
two  springs  Vs,  only  one  of  which  is  shown.  These  springs, 
however,   cannot  bring   the   pawl    into  connection  with   the 


§22  COMBERS  33 

gear  until  they  are  allowed  to  do  so  by  the  cam  5,.  As  the 
cam-shaft  revolves  and  the  portion  of  the  edge  of  the  cam 
that  is  nearest  its  center  comes  in  contact  with  the  bowl  z',, 
the  pawl  hinged  at  v^  will  be  drawn  down  by  the  springs  until 
it  is  in  contact  with  one  of  the  teeth  of  the  gear  v^. 

The  cam  5,  will  also  be  moving  during  this  time  in  the 
direction  indicated  by  the  arrow,  and  the  bowl  will  come  in 
contact  with  that  part  of  the  cam  nearest  the  center.  This 
position  is  shown  in  Fig.  21.     Changing  the  position  of  the 


Fig.  -ll 

cam  from  that  shown  in  Fig.  20  to  that  shown  in  Fig.  21 
results  in  moving  the  gear  v^  in  the  direction  shown  by  the 
arrow.  The  delivery  roll  j-  will  receive  a  similar  motion  and 
carry  back  a  portion  of  the  cotton  previously  combed. 

The  further  rotation  of  the  cam  5,  will  cause  the  cam- 
bowl  ^4  to  be  forced  from  the  center  j  and  this  will  cause  the 
pawl  z'j,  and  consequently  the  gear  zu,  to  move  in  an  opposite 
direction  to  that  first  described.  The  positions  that  these 
parts  assume  during  this  motion  are  shown  in  Fig.  22.  It  is 
therefore  evident  that  the  delivery  roll  v.'illhave  two  motions, 


34  COMBERS  §22 

one  of  which  returns  a  portion  of  cotton  previously  combed 
while  the  other  delivers  the  cotton  that  is  detached.  After 
the  latter  movement  has  taken  place,  the  cam  s^  having  moved 
sufficiently  far  will  remove  the  pawl  from  the  gear  zu.  When 
the  pawl  is  next  allowed  to  engage  with  the  gear  zu,  it  will 
be  in  such  a  position  that  it  will  drop  into  the  next  tooth 
beyond  the  one  with  which  it  previously  engaged. 

The  delivering  movement  of  the  delivery  roll  is  about 
double  its  movement  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  the  length 
of  cotton  actually  delivered  is  dependent  on  the  amount  that 
the  former  exceeds  the  latter. 

34.  The  operation  of  piecing-up  may  therefore  be  briefly 
stated  as  follows:  It  is  necessary  to  detach  a  combed  fringe 
of  cotton  from  a  lap  and  connect  it  to  cotton  already  combed. 
The  combed  fringe  of  cotton  is  supported  by  the  fluted  seg- 
ment O3,  as  shown  in  Fig.  16.  In  order  to  connect  this 
fringe  the  cotton  immediately  in  front  of  it  is  brought  back, 
by  turning  the  delivery  roll  in  the  desired  direction,  and  falls 
in  a  space  between  the  half  lap  and  the  fluted  segment.  After 
the  required  amount  of  cotton  has  been  returned,  the  detach- 
ing roll  is  brought  in  contact  with  the  fluted  segment  so  that 
it  will  grip  the  cotton  to  be  detached.  The  delivery  roll 
is  then  revolved  in  the  opposite  direction  to  that  by  which  it 
returned  the  cotton  previously  combed,  and  at  the  same  time 
the  detaching  roll  and  the  segment  detach  the  cotton  from 
the  layer  brought  forwards  by  the  feed-rolls.  During  these 
motions  the  forward  ends  of  the  fibers  detached  are  placed 
above  and  upon  the  rear  ends  of  the  fibers  that  were  returned, 
and  thus  they  are  joined  together  between  the  detaching  roll  q 
and  the  delivery  roll  s,  after  which  the  detaching  roll  is  moved 
out  of  the  path  of  the  half  lap  so  that  it  will  not  interfere 
with  the  operation  of  combing  the  next  tuft  of  cotton  held 
by  the  nippers.  

COMBING     BY    THE     TOP    COMB 

35.  Another  operation  performed  in  connection  with  that 
of  detaching  is  the  combing  of  that  portion  of  the  fibers 
held   by  the  nippers   when  the  half    lap  is    in    action    and 


22 


COMBERS 


35 


which,  consequently,  cannot  be  combed  by  the  half  lap. 
This  portion  of  cotton  is  combed  by  the  action  of  the  top 
comb  shown  at  the  lower  end  of  the  plate  ii.  Fig.  23.  This 
comb  is  constructed  with  one  or  two  rows  of  needles  soldered 
to  the  plate,  it  being  claimed  on  the  one  hand  that  two  rows 
of  needles  give  a  more  effective  combing,  while  on  the 
other  hand  it  is  stated  that  dirt  collects  between  the  two 
rows  of  needles  and  afterwards  drops  back  into  the  cotton. 
Another  disadvantage  of  two  rows  of  needles  is  that  they 
are  more  liable  to  come  in  contact  with  some  of  the  moving 
parts  during  the  oper- 
ation of  piecing-up  be- 
cause of  the  small  space 
between  the  nippers  and 
the  detaching  roll.  It 
is  also  more  difficult  to 
straighten  the  needles  if 
they  become  bent  or 
hooked  than  when  a 
single  row  is  used. 
When  made  with  two 
rows,  there  is  usually  a 
coarse  row  with  30  teeth 
per  inch  and  a  finer  row 
with  60  teeth  per  inch. 
The  plate,  or  blade, 
to  which  the  needles  are 
soldered  is  supported  by 
brackets  z/,.  Fig.  23,  there  being  two  for  each  comb,  or 
head.  These  brackets  are  connected  to  the  shaft  u^,  which 
extends  the  length  of  the  heads  and  supports  the  brackets 
for  each  head.  At  one  end  of  this  shaft  is  a  lever  ti^ 
carrying  a  cam-bowl  Ut,  which  is  in  contact  with  the  cam  u« 
on  the  cylinder  shaft  o».  As  the  cylinder  shaft  revolves, 
the  top  comb  will  be  alternately  raised  and  lowered  by  the 
action  of  the  cam.  The  comb  is  given  this  movement 
because  when  the  half  lap  is  combing,  as  shown  in  Fig.  15, 
the  top  comb  must  be  up  out  of  the  way  so  that  it  will  not 


Fig.  23 


36 


COMBERS 


§22 


interfere  with  the  action  of  the  half  lap.  The  top  comb  is 
lowered  immediately  after  the  half  lap  has  passed  and  before 
the  operation  of  detaching  takes  place.  It  is  shown  almost 
in  position  in  Fig.  24,  where  the  half  lap  has  just  passed; 
while  in  Fig.  16  it  is  shown  in  its  combing  position.  As  the 
fibers  are  detached  by  the  detaching  roll  and  segment  the 
top  comb  is  in  its  lowest  position  and  the  fibers  that  were 
held  by  the  nippers  are  drawn  through  the  comb  by  the 
detaching  roll   and   segment;    in   this  manner   dirt  and   any 


fibers  too  short  to  be  held  by  the  segment  and  detaching 
roll  are  removed,  after  which  the  comb  is  raised  so  that  it 
will  not  interfere  with  the  action  of  the  half  lap.  The 
matter  combed  out  by  the  top  comb  that  is  not  retained  by 
the  fringe  projecting  from  the  feed-rolls  drops  into  the 
space  on  the  cylinder  between  the  fluted  segment  and  the 
half  lap.  The  matter  retained  by  the  fringe  is  removed  by 
the  half  lap  during  its  next  combing  operation. 


22  COMBERS  37 


DELIVERY    OF    THE     STOCK 

36.  Calender  Rolls. — The  cotton  when  freed  from  the 
action  of  the  top  roll  and  delivery  roll  is  delivered  into  a 
pan  made  of  tin  and  shaped  somewhat  like  a  right  triangle 
with  its  base  adjoining  the  delivery  roll.  A  side 'view  of  one 
of  these  pans  is  shown  at  w,  Fig.  9.  Each  pan  is  from  about 
Ih  inches  to  2  inches  deep,  its  bottom  being  perforated  so 
that  any  foreign  substances  that  fall  from  the  cotton  will  pass 
out  of  the  pan  and  thus  be  prevented  from  entering  the 
cotton  again.  At  the  end  of  the  pan  farthest  from  the  deliv- 
ery roll  is  a  trumpet,  as  shown  in  Fig.  9,  which  has  its  larger 
end  in  the  pan.  The  cotton  when  delivered  in  the  pan  is  in 
the  form  of  a  transparent  web  nearly  as  wide  as  the  leather 
portion  of  the  detaching  roll.  It  is  drawn  through  the 
trumpet  by  the  table  calender  rolls,  which  are  shown  at  n 
and  «,,  Fig.  9.  By  this  means  the  web  is  condensed  into  the 
form  of  a  sliver  and  delivered  on  a  table,  as  shown  in  Fig.  25. 

37.  The    table    and    the    table    calender   rolls    for   a 

comber  of  six  heads  are  shown  in  Fig.  25.  The  lower 
calender  rolls  are  on  a  shaft  that  extends  the  length  of  the 
heads,  while  the  upper  ones,  which  are  self-weighted,  receive 
motion  by  frictional  contact  with  the  lower  rolls.  These  rolls 
revolve  continually  at  the  required  speed  to  take  up  the  excess 
amount  of  cotton  delivered  by  the  delivery  roll  over  that 
carried  back  for  piecing-up,  or  in  other  words,  the  net  amount 
delivered  by  the  delivery  roll.  As  these  rolls  are  revolving 
continually  in  one  direction,  and  as  the  delivery  roll  some- 
times moves  in  the  same  direction  and  at  other  times  in  an 
opposite  direction,  the  web  of  cotton  in  the  pan  is  alternately 
slack  and  tight,  which  gives  a  wavy  motion  to  the  web.  The 
web  at  any  time  should  not  be  so  slack  that  it  will  fall  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  pan,  nor  should  it  be  so  tight  that  it  will  be  strained. 
The  table  on  which  the  slivers  are  delivered  is  about 
7  inches  wide.  Its  surface  is  polished  in  order  to  present 
the  least  possible  resistance  to  the  slivers  as  they  pass  over 
it.     Guides  are  placed  on  this  table  at  various  distances  from 


^22 


COMBERS 


39 


the  calender  rolls  so  that  the  different  slivers  will  be  guided 
on  the  table  and  lie  in  a  position  side  by  side  instead  of 
crowding  on  one  another.  In  this  manner,  the  slivers  are 
drawn  along  the  table  by  the  back  rolls  of  a  set  situated  in 
tlie  draw-box  shown  in  Fig.  25. 

38.  The  Dra^v-Box, — Up  to  this  point  each  lap  and  the 
sliver  formed  from  each  lap  is  treated  individually.  All  the 
slivers  are,  however,  drawn  into  the  clra\v-box  together. 
The  draw-box  has  three  pair  of  rolls,  which  may  be  either 
of  the  common  or  metallic  types,  and  these  rolls  give  to  the 
sliver  a  slight  draft,  although  the  principal  draft  of  a  comber 
is  between  the  feed-rolls  and  the  table  calender  rolls. 


Fig.  26 

39.  The  slivers  after  being  subjected  to  the  draft  of  the 
drawing  rolls  are  drawn  through  a  trumpet  by  a  pair  of  cal- 
ender rolls  and  are  thus  condensed  into  one  sliver.  The 
calender  rolls  that  draw  the  slivers  through  the  trumpet  are 
different  in  construction  from  most  calender  rolls;  they  are 
shown  in  Fig.  26.  The  bottom  roll  ec  has  a  groove  into 
which  the  small  end  of  the  trumpet  projects,  while  the  top 
roll  ?£',,  which  is  driven  by  frictional  contact,  has  a  collar  that 
fits  into  the  groove  of  the  bottom  roll.  As  the  sliver  runs 
in  the  groove  of  the  lower  roll  it  will  be  effectively  con- 
densed by  the  top  roll,  which  is  self-weighted. 

From  these  calender  rolls  the  sliver  passes  to  a  coiler, 
which  is  similar  to  the  coilers  described  in  connection  with 
other  machines. 


40  COMBERS  §22' 


SUMMARY 

40.  As  the  operation  of  a  comber  is  somewhat  compli- 
cated, which  is  due  to  the  many  different  mechanisms  that  are 
brought  into  action,  a  short  summary  will  be  given  here,  as 
an  aid  to  the  understanding  of  the  operations  as  a  w^hole. 

In  order  to  bring  the  cotton  into  a  position  to  be  combed, 
it  is  first  necessary  that  a  certain  length  should  be  delivered 
by  the  feed-rolls.  After  the  cotton  has  been  fed  by  these 
rolls,  the  nipper  knife  descends  and  not  only  grips  it  firmly 
but  also,  by  depressing  the  cushion  plate,  brings  the  fringe 
of  cotton  into  a  suitable  position  to  be  acted  on  by  the 
needles  of  the  half  lap.  The  cylinder  is  in  such  a  position 
that,  when  the  nipper  knife  has  completed  its  downward 
motion,  the  first  row  of  needles  on  the  half  lap  enters  the  end 
of  the  fringe  of  cotton,  and,  as  the  cylinder  revolves,  the 
successive  rows  of  needles  remove  all  the  fibers  that  are  too 
short  to  be  retained  by  the  nippers,  as  well  as  the  neps  that 
have  been  left  in  the  cotton.  After  the  needles  on  the  half 
lap  have  passed  the  fringe  of  cotton,  the  ends  of  the  fibers 
fall  into  the  gap  left  between  the  needles  and  the  segment, 
and  the  nipper  knife,  together  with  the  cushion  plate,  begins 
to  rise.  When  the  cushion  plate  has  reached  its  uppermost 
position,  the  further  lifting  of  the  nipper  knife  releases  the 
fibers  at  this  point.  During  this  operation  the  portion  of  the 
cotton  previously  combed  has  been  brought  back  and  is  now 
ready  to  be  pieced  up  with  the  cotton  that  has  just  undergone 
the  combing  operation  by  the  half  lap. 

The  cylinder  having  revolved  until  the  fluted  segment  is 
in  the  desired  position,  the  detaching  roll  descends  and  grips 
the  cotton  firmly  between  itself  and  the  fluted  segment.  The 
further  revolving  of  the  fluted  segment,  together  with  the 
detaching  roll,  draws  away  the  fibers  that  are  not  held  by 
the  grip  of  the  feed-rolls,  and  since  the  top  comb  has  by 
this  time  dropped  into  such  a  position  that  it  protrudes  into 
the  end  of  the  lap  just  in  advance  of  the  portion  that  has  not 
been  cleaned  by  the  needles  of  the  half  lap,  it  efficiently 
combs  this  portion  of  the  fibers.     At  the  beginning  of  this 


§22  COMBERS  41 

operation  the  forward  ends  of  the  fibers  being  combed  are  car- 
ried forwards  sufficiently  to  overlap  the  r^ar  ends  of  the  fibers 
that  were  returned;  consequently,  the  forward  rotation  of  the 
delivery  roll,  which  occurs  while  the  detaching  roll  is  in  contact 
with  the  segment,  assists  in  piecing  up  the  fibers  just  detached 
to  those  previously  combed,  and  delivers  them  into  the  pan. 

It  should  be  clearly  understood  at  this  point  that  all  the 
fibers  do  not  project  from  the  feed-rolls  to  the  same  extent 
at  one  time.  For  example,  some  of  the  fibers  may  not  be 
gripped  by  the  feed-rolls  at  all,  while  other  fibers  may  pro- 
ject beyond  the  feed-rolls  a  quarter  of  their  length,  some 
half  of  their  length,  and  some  three-quarters  of  their  length; 
consequently,  when  the  detaching  action  takes  place,  only 
those  fibers  that  project  entirely  beyond  the  feed-rolls  are 
gripped  and  drawn  forwards  by  the  action  of  the  detaching 
roll  and  fluted  segment,  while  those  fibers  that  project 
only  partly  beyond  and  are  still  gripped  by  the  feed-rolls 
form  a  fringe  of  cotton  that  is  always  present  in  front  of 
the  feed-rolls.  At  the  next  delivery  of  the  feed-rolls  those 
fibers  that  previously  projected  only  partly  beyond  the  rolls 
may  now  project  entirely  beyond  the  rolls,  and  consequently 
at  the  next  detaching  operation  these  fibers  will  be  drawn 
forwards  in  a  manner  similar  to  those  previously  detached. 

From  the  delivery  roll,  the  cotton  passes  into  the  pan, 
through  the  trumpet,  between  the  table  calender  rolls,  and 
is  delivered  on  to  the  table,  along  which  it  is  drawn  together 
with  the  other  slivers  that  have  been  delivered  by  the  various 
heads.  From  the  table  the  slivers  pass  to  the  draw-box, 
where  they  are  given  a  slight  draft,  after  which  they  pass 
through  a  trumpet  and  between  a  pair  of  calender  rolls, 
where  they  are  condensed  into  one  sliver.  From  the  calen- 
der rolls  the  sliver  passes  to  the  coiler  and  then  to  the  can. 


GEARING 

41.  A  plan  of  the  gearing  of  a  comber  is  shown  in 
Fig.  27.  and  from  this  figure  the  manner  in  which  the  vari- 
ous mechanisms  receive   their  motions  may  be  seen.     The 


42  COMBERS  §22 

pulley  5-,  is  driven  from  the  shafting  of  the  room.  This 
pulley  is  firmly  keyed  to  the  short  shaft  z,  which  is  carried 
by  the  framing  and  steadied  in  its  motion  by  the  balance 
wheel  z„  in  order  to  prevent  a  variation  of  speed,  which 
might  be  caused  by  the  intermittent  actions  of  some  of  the 
parts  of  the  comber. 

On  the  shaft  z  is  fixed  a  pinion  of  21  teeth,  which  drives 
a  gear  of  80  teeth  on  the  cylinder  shaft  o^.  Meshing  with 
the  gear  of  80  teeth  on  the  cylinder  shaft  is  a  gear  of  80  teeth 
on  the  cam-shaft  j;  consequently,  the  cam-shaft  and  cylinder 
shaft  revolve  at  the  same  speed.  On  the  cam-shaft,  the 
positions  of  the  various  cams  are  shown,  these  being  the 
nipper  cam  g^,  the  cam  7,  for  placing  the  detaching  roll  in  its 
required  position,  and  the  cams  ^i,  s^,  Fig.  20,  these  two 
latter  cams  being  situated  at  the  extreme  right  of  the  cam- 
shaft in  Fig.  27.  The  shaft  supporting  the  lower  table  cal- 
ender rolls  is  driven  from  the  cam-shaft  as  shown. 

Combers  were  first  constructed  with  a  short  cam-shaft,  and 
the  cams  were  placed  nearer  the  driving  end  of  the  machine. 
The  connections  to  the  shafts  from  which  the  nippers  receive 
motion  and  from  which  the  detaching  roll  is  placed  in  posi- 
tion were  at  one  end  of  these  shafts.  When  constructed  in 
this  manner,  the  torsion  on  the  shafts  was  such  that  the 
parts  for  each  head  that  received  motion  from  these  shafts 
did  not  work  simultaneously.  The  first  remedy  was  to  make 
the  shafts  larger,  but  later  the  combers  were  constructed 
with  the  nipper  and  lifter  cams  in  the  center  of  the  comber, 
so  that  the  connection  was  made  to  the  centers  of  the  shafts 
that  they  operated. 

The  disk  containing  the  pin  from  which  the  feed-roll 
receives  motion,  as  shown  in  Fig.  10,  is  attached  to  the  gear 
of  80  teeth  on  the  cylinder  shaft.  The  star  gear  c^  of  5  teeth, 
shown  in  Fig.  27,  is  on  a  short  shaft,  the  other  end  of  which 
carries  the  draft  change  gear  fe,  which  drives  a  gear  c-,  on 
the  feed-roll.  At  the  other  end  of  the  feed-roll  is  a  gear 
that,  by  means  of  the  shaft  x,  drives  the  lap  rolls  a,a^. 

The  brush  p,  which  cleans  the  needles  of  the  half  lap  used 
in  the  combing  process,  is  driven  from  the  shaft  z  through 


44  COMBERS  §22 

a  carrier  gear,  change  gears  being  provided  for  driving  the 
brush  shaft  at  different  speeds.  The  cylinder  shaft  at  its 
end  opposite  to  that  of  the  gear  of  80  teeth  has  a  gear  that 
drives  the  doffer  by  means  of  the  shaft  ra,  and  also  the 
drawing  rolls  of  the  draw-box  and  the  calender  rolls  by 
means  of  the  shaft  u\.  From  this  end  of  the  cylinder  shaft, 
the  coiler  is  driven  by  the  gear  of  60  teeth,  change  gears 
being  provided  so  that  the  speed  of  the  coiler  may  be  altered 
in  order  to  have  the  coiler  properly  take  up  the  sliver.  The 
comb  for  removing  the  waste  from  the  doffer  is  not  shown 
in  the  figure,  but  it  is  driven  by  a  simple  crank-motion,  the 
stud  that  turns  the  crank  being  at  the  extreme  inner  end  of 
the  shaft  2. 

42.  The  draft  for  the  gearing  shown  in  Fig.  27,  with  an 
18-tooth  draft  change  gear,  figuring  from  the  2-inch  coiler 
calender  roll  to  the  2f-inch  lap  roll  at  the  back  of  the  comber, 
is  as  follows: 

2  X  16  X  16  X  60  X  5  X  38  X  22  X  55  X  47    _  23  579 
16  X  16  X  69  X  1  X  18  X  23  X  20  X  35  X  21 

As  the  comber  removes  a  very  large  percentage  of  waste 
from  the  cotton  that  passes  through  it,  it  is  not  possible  to 
figure  accurately  the  weight  of  the  sliver  produced  by  simply 
taking  into  consideration  the  weight  per  yard  of  the  lap  fed 
in,  the  number  of  doublings,  and  the  draft  of  the  machine. 
An  example  will  make  this  point  clearer. 

Example. — Suppose  that  a  comber  with  a  draft  of  23.579  has  six 
laps  up  at  the  back,  each  lap  weighing  260  grains  per  yard,  and  it  is 
desired  to  find  the  weight  per  yard  of  the  sliver  delivered. 

Solution. — Multiplying  the  weight  per  yard  of  the  laps  fed  in  by 
the  number  of  laps,  and  dividing  by  the  draft  gives  66.1605  grains  as 

the  weight  per  yard  of  the  sliver  delivered;  "        ,^  =  66.1605.    If  20  per 

cent,  of  the  cotton  that  passes  through  the  machine  is  taken  out  as 
waste,  the  result  obtained  above  must  be  diminished  by  20  per  cent., 
in  order  to  obtain  the  actual  weight  per  yard  of  the  sliver  delivered; 
20  per  cent,  of  66.1605  is  13.2321,  which  deducted  from  66.1605  gives 
52.9284  as  the  grains  per  yard  of  the  sliver  produced.     Ans. 


J 


§22 


COMBERS 


45 


VARIATIONS    IN    CONSTRUCTION 

43.     Quadrant    Motion. — A    different    mechanism    for 
imparting  the  rotary  motions  to  the  delivery  roll  is  shown  in 


Figs.  28,  29,  and  30,  and  is  applied  to  combers  that  have  their 

other  parts  constructed  in  a  manner  similar  to  those  described. 

This    mechanism    consists    of    a    cam    s,    known    as    the 

giiadra7it  cam,  which  is  fast  on  the  cam-shaft/.     Working  in 


46 


COMBERS 


§22 


Fig.  29 


lever  v^  that  is  centered  at  v-. 


the  cam-course  is  a  bowl  s^  that  is  supported  by  the  lever  s, 
centered  at  s^.  The  other  end  of  this  lever  contains  teeth, 
and  it  is  from  the  shape  of  the  lever  that  the  name  quadrant  is 

derived.  The  toothed  por- 
tion St,  Fig.  30,  of  the  lever  ^, 
connects  with  a  gear  5e  loose 
on  the  delivery  roll  s.  At  one 
end  of  the  gear  ^e  is  one  part 
of  a  clutch  that,  when  brought 
in  contact  with  the  other 
part  s^  that  is  fast  to  the 
delivery  roll  s,  will  impart 
any  motion  of  the  gear  s^  to 
the  delivery  roll.  The  cam  Vi, 
Fig.  30,  which  is  also  on  the 
cam-shaft,  by  means  of  the 
moves  the  part  of  the  clutch 
that  is  loose  on  the  delivery  roll  into,  and  out  of,  contact  with 
the  other  part.  It  will  be  seen 
that  with  this  construction  the 
delivery  roll  will  receive  motion 
from  the  cam  s^  during  the  time 
that  the  parts  of  the  clutch  are 
held  in  contact  by  the  cam  i',. 
When  in  action,  the  clutch  is  first 
connected  by  means  of  the  cam  z-', 
acting  on  the  lever  v.,,  Fig.  30, 
the  clutch  corresponding  to  the 
pawl  Vi  in  the  mechanism  pre- 
viously described. 

The  delivery  roll  then  begins 
to  turn  back  as  the  bowl  of  the 
cam  5,  leaves  the  line  o,  Fig.  29, 
and  approaches  the  line  o^.  At 
the  line  o^,  the  cam-bowl  com- 
mences to  move  from  the  center  of  the  cam-shaft,  thus 
reversing  the  motion  of  the  delivery  roll.  This  reverse 
motion  ceases  when  the  clutch  is  disconnected  by  means  of 


Fig. 30 


§22  COMBERS  47 

the  cam  i\,  Fig.  30,  which  occurs  at  the  time  that  the  cam- 
bowl  Js  is  about  to  enter  that  part  of  the  cam-course  that  is 
nearly  concentric  with  the  cam-shaft.  The  points  at  which  the 
clutch  is  connected  and  disconnected  will  govern  the  character 
of  the  piecing  in  the  same  manner  as  the  action  of  the  pawl 
described  in  connection  with  Figs.  20,  21,  and  22, 

44.  Another  method  of  lifting  the  leather  detaching  roll 
is  shown  in  Fig.  28.  On  the  lifter  shaft  k  is  an  arm  k^  that 
carries  a  stud  on  which  works  loosely  a  square  block  k„;  on 
the  shaft  /  is  an  arm  X^,  on  the  lower  end  of  which  is  a  cut- 
out into  which  the  square  block  k.  fits.  As  the  arm  k^  is 
moved  by  the  action  of  the  lifter  cam,  it,  in  turn,  moves  the 
arm  k:,  and  shaft  /  and  so  lifts  and  lowers  the  leather  detach- 
ing rolls.  One  point  of  improvement  claimed  for  this  method 
is  that  there  is  less  lost  motion^  and  therefore  a  more  accurate 
setting  of  the  leather  detaching  roll  is  obtained. 

Another  method  of  lifting  the  leather  detaching  roll  is  to 
connect  the  shafts  /  directly  to  the  lifter  cams,  using  a  sepa- 
rate cam  for  each  shaft,  w^hich  usually  operates  the  rolls  for 
two  heads.  

DOUBLE-NIP   COMBER 

45.  Purpose. — In  order  to  obtain  a  greater  production 
than  is  obtained  with  a  comber  constructed  as  previously 
described,   machines    known   as   double-nip   combers   are 

built.  These  combers  act  on  two  portions  of  cotton  during 
each  revolution  of  the  cylinder,  whereas  in  a  single-nip 
comber  only  one  portion  of  cotton  is  treated  for  every  revo- 
lution of  the  cylinder. 

46.  Construction. — The  cylinder  of  a  double-nip 
comber  contains  two  half  laps  and  two  fluted  segments,  but 
the  half  laps  have  only  thirteen  rows  of  needles  in  place  of 
the  seventeen  of  the  single-nip  comber,  since  two  half  laps  of 
seventeen  rows  each  would  occupy  too  much  space.  The 
segments  are  also  made  correspondingly  narrower.  The  seg- 
ments and  the  half  laps  are  arranged  alternately  on  the  cylin- 
der with  shght  spaces  between  them,  in  order  that  the  cotton 


48  COMBERS  §22 

may  assume  the  positions  shown  in  Fig.  16  and  thus  be 
properly  pieced  up.  A  sectional  view  of  a  double-nip  comber 
equipped  with  a  clutch  and  quadrant  is  shown  in  Fig.  28. 

In  order  that  a  portion  of  cotton  shall  be  presented  to  each 
half  lap,  or  that  the  feed-rolls  shall  receive  motion  twice  for 
every  revolution  of  the  cylinder,  another  pin  is  placed  on  the 
disk  plate,  shown  in  Fig.  10,  in  such  a  position  that  the  two 
pins  will  be  exactly  opposite  each  other.  The  other  inter- 
mittent motions  of  the  machine  must  therefore  have  two 
movements  for  each  revolution  of  the  cylinder  shaft;  this  is 
provided  for  by  having  the  gearing  arranged  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  cam-shaft  receives  two  revolutions  for  every  revolu- 
tion of  the  cylinder  shaft,  thus  causing  the  parts  that  receive 
their  movement  from  the  cams  on  the  cam-shaft  to  perform 
their  work  twice  during  this  time. 

47.  A  comber  with  a  double  nip  gives  a  greater  produc- 
tion than  a  comber  with  a  single  nip,  but  does  not,  however, 
clean  the  cotton  so  well,  because  of  the  smaller  number  of 
needles  acting  on  the  fringe.  Another  disadvantage  of  the 
double-nip  comber  as  compared  with  the  single-nip  comber  is 
due  to  some  of  the  parts  running  at  such  a  high  speed  that 
they  not  only  wear  out  more  quickly  but  easily  get  away 
from  their  proper  settings  and  timings,  thus  producing 
bad    work. 


COMBERS 

(PART  2) 


SETTING  AND   TIMING 


INTRODUCTION 

1.  Aside  from  the  general  construction  of  a  comber,  two 
subjects  closely  related  to  the  machine  and  very  important  to 
the  success  of  the  combing  process  that  should  be  considered 
in  this  connection  are  setting  and  timi7ig.  The  setting  of  a 
comber  implies  regulating  the  distance  between  its  working 
parts  by  gauges.  Timing  is  a  process  that  has  arisen  from 
the  fact  that  a  comber  is  intermittent  in  its  action  and  that 
it  is  therefore  necessary  to  time  the  motions  of  its  various 
parts  so  that  they  will  be  performing  their  work  when  some 
working  part  that  is  taken  as  a  basis  for  timing  is  perform- 
ing a  certain  operation. 

Although  the  range  within  which  these  settings  and  timings 
can  be  regulated  and  worked  successfully  is  very  limited,  it  is 
very  seldom  that  two  persons  in  charge  of  combers  will  agree 
on  these  questions.  The  principal  points  to  be  taken  into 
consideration,  however,  are  the  length  of  the  staple  of  the 
cotton  to  be  used,  the  weight  of  the  lap  fed,  the  kind  of  cotton 
used,  the  quality  of  the  work  required,  and,  as  a  consequence 
of  the  last,  the  amount  of  waste  to  be  combed  out. 

It  is  obvious  that  a  different  combination  of  settings  and 
timings  will  be  required  when  cotton  with  li-inch  staple  is 
being  used  than  when  the  cotton  has  a  If-inch  staple.  This 
is  also  true  in  connection  with  medium  or  low  grades  of 
combed  yarn  as  compared  with  fine  yarns,  since  it  is  not  nec- 
essary to  take  out  so  much  waste  in  the  former  case. 

For  notice  of  copyright,  see  page  immediately  following  the  title  page 
?23 


COMBERS 


§23 


SETTING 

2.  Gauges. — The  several  kinds  of  gauges  used  in  setting 
a  comber  are  shown  in  Fig.  1,  and  include  the  regular  comber 
gauge  (a),  the  step  gauge  {d),  the  finger  gauge  (c) ,  the 
quadrant  gauge  (d) ,  the  cradle  gauge  {e) ,  and  brush  gauge  (/) . 

1.  Cofuber  Gauge. — There  are  several  gauges  similar  to 
a,  the  blades  of  which  vary  from  No.  12  to  No.  28  in  thick- 
ness. They  are  numbered  according  to  a  wire  gauge  and 
decrease    in   thickness   as   the   numbers   increase,  a   No.  20 


X 


1^ 


(^) 


(a) 


X 


i^ 


:a 


^ 


(f) 


Fig.  1 


meaning  that  the  gauge  is  equal  in  thickness  to  a  No.  20 
wire.  These  gauges  are  about  f  inch  wide,  and  usually 
about  4^  inches  long.  Each  really  consists  of  two  gauges, 
one  at  each  end;  for  example,  the  one  shown  in  Fig.  1  {a) 
has  a  No.  20  gauge  at  one  end  and  a  No.  21  gauge  at  the 
other  end.  For  settings  finer  than  a  No.  23  gauge,  strips  of 
paper  are  sometimes  used,  although  this  method  is  not  as 
reliable  as  the  use  of  the  regular  gauges. 

2.     The  step  gauge  {b)  is  composed  of  one  piece  with  steps, 
each  step  being  iV  inch  thicker  than  the  preceding  one.    The 


i 


23 


COMBERS 


first  step  is  generally  i  inch  in  thickness.     The  width  of  this 
gauge  is  about  i  inch. 

3.  The  finger  gauge  (c)  is  measured  from  the  arrowhead 
on  the  curved  portion  to  the  arrowhead  on  the  straight  end 
and  varies  from  Is  inches  to  2  inches  in  length;  it  is  about 
-1%  inch  in  thickness. 

4.  The  quadrant  (d)  is  used  for  determining  the  angles 
of  top  combs. 

5.  The  cradle  gauge  {e)  is  used  to  hold  the  top  comb  in 
position  while  it  is  being  fastened  to  the  comb  arms. 

6.  The  brush  gauge  (/)  is  used  for  setting  the  brush  shaft 
parallel  to,  and  at  the  required  distance  from,  the  cylinder 
shaft. 

Assuming  that  a  comber  has  merely  been  set  up  and  that 
the  cylinders  are  loose  on  the  cylinder  shaft,  the  parts  that 
require  setting  with  gauges  and  the  gauges  used  for  making 
each  setting  are  given  in  Table  I. 


TABLE  I 


Parts  to  be  Set 


Delivery  roll  from  segment 

Front  flute  of  segment  from  delivery 

roll 

Feed-roll  from  delivery  roll 

Cushion  plate  to  nipper  knife  .... 
Distance   of   setscrew   /a  from   stand 

when  d  is  down,  Fig.  3 

Cushion  plate  from  delivery  roll  .  . 
Distance    of    nipper    from    half    lap 

when  nipper  is  in  its  lowest  position 

Brush  to  half  lap 

Top    comb    set    at    angle    of     from 

25°  to  30°    

Top  comb  from  fluted  segment  .  .  . 
Distance  of  blocks  A,    Fig.   8,   from 

bearings    of    detaching   roll   when 

resting  on  segment 

Top  roll  from  leather  detaching  roll  . 


Gauge 


Comber 

Finger 
Finger 
With  paper 

Step 
Finger 

Comber 
Brush 

Quadrant 
Comber 


Size  of  Gauge 


No.  23 

\\  inches 
According  to  staple 

i  to  f  inch 
According  to  staple 

No.  20 


No.  20  or  21 


Comber        I  No.  23 
Comber        I  No.  21 


4  COMBERS  §23 

3.  Setting  the  Various  Parts. — 1.  In  making  any  set- 
ting in  any  machine,  some  one  point,  usually  a  shaft,  is  taken 
as  a  basis.  In  the  comber,  the  cylinder  shaft  is  primarily  the 
base  of  all  settings,  from  the  fact  that  the  cylinder,  which  is 
used  to  set  from  for  certain  settings,  is  centered  on  that  shaft; 
but  as  the  delivery  roll  is  a  more  convenient  point  from 
which  to  work  when  making  certain  of  the  settings,  it  is 
given  a  true  and  accurate  setting  with  a  certain  definite 
relation  to  the  cylinder,  and  after  being  certain  that  it  will 
revolve  freely  in  its  bearings,  these  bearings  are  secured, 
and  the  delivery  roll  becomes  the  base  of  certain  of  the  set- 
tings of  the  comber. 

The  cylinder  shaft  and  delivery  roll  of  the  comber  revolve 
in  bearings  that  do  not  have  any  motion  during  the  various 
operations  of  the  comber,  and  which  after  the  first  setting 
have  a  definite  relation  to  each  other  as  to  distance.  The 
fact  that  the  cylinder  can  be  moved  on  the  cylinder  shaft 
does  not  affect  the  distance  between  the  faces  of  the  segment, 
or  the  half  lap  of  the  cylinder,  and  the  face  of  the  delivery 
roll. 

In  order  to  have  the  cylinder  and  delivery  roll  in  their 
proper  relative  positions,  it  is  first  necessary  to  line  up  the 
delivery  roll,  which  is  done  by  presenting  each  fluted  segment 
of  the  comber  to  the  delivery  roll  and  moving  the  bearings 
of  the  delivery  roll  until  the  space  between  the  surface  of  this 
roll  and  the  surface  of  each  fluted  segment  is  equal  to  a 
No.  23  comber  gauge.  The  distance  should  be  tested  at 
both  ends  of  each  segment.  When  this  has  been  done,  the 
cylinder  shaft  and  all  parts  carried  on  the  cylinder  shaft  have 
a  definite  relation  as  to  distance  from  the  delivery  roll,  and 
although  certain  settings  are  made  from  either  base,  they 
do  not  conflict  with  one  another. 

2.  Front  Flnte  of  Segment  From  Delivery  Roll. — After 
setting  the  delivery  roll  and  being  positive  that  it  revolves 
very  freely  in  its  bearings,  the  index  gear  (which  will  be 
described  later)  should  be  placed  at  5,  after  which  the  cylin- 
ders are  fastened  on  the  cylinder  shaft.  One  cylinder  is 
first  secured   so  that  the  front  edge  of  its  fluted  segment 


§23  COMBERS  5 

approaches  within  a  certain  distance  of  the  face  of  the  delivery 
roll,  after  which  each  of  the  other  cylinders  of  the  comber 
is  set  with  its  fluted  segment  the  same  distance  away. 
When  this  has  been  done,  the  first  flutes  of  all  the  seg- 
ments across  the  comber  will  be  in  one  straight  line.  A 
finger  gauge  li  inches  long  may  be  used,  but  care  should 
be  taken  in  making  this  setting  that  the  position  of  each 
segment  is  accurate,  since  the  perfect  alinement  of  these 
parts  is  vital  to  the  quality  of  the  product. 

When  making  this  setting,  the  curved  face  of  the  finger 
gauge  is  placed  on  the  flutes  of  the  delivery  roll  and  the 
cylinder  turned  on  its  shaft  until  the  front  part  of  the  seg- 
ment comes  in  contact  with  the  opposite  face  of  the  gauge. 
The  space  between  these  two  parts  should  first  be  tested  at 
one  end  of  the  segment,  and  when  this  end  is  in  its  correct 
position  the  cylinder  is  secured  by  means  of  a  setscrew  to 
the  shaft  at  this  end,  after  which  the  gauge  is  passed  along 
the  length  of  the  segment  to  make  sure  that  it  is  the  correct 
distance  at  all  points  from  the  delivery  roll;  the  cylinder  is 
then  fastened  at  its  other  end  by  means  of  a  setscrew.  The 
same  method  is  adopted  with  each  of  the  other  cylinders, 
care  also  being  taken  to  have  all  the  cylinders  exactly  in  the 
centers  of  the  heads. 

3.  Feed-Roll  Fro^n  Delivery  Roll. — Setting  the  feed-roll 
from  the  delivery  roll  is  accomplished  by  moving  the  bear- 
ings of  the  feed-roll.  This  is  a  very  important  setting,  since 
if  these  rolls  are  not  exactly  parallel,  there  will  be  a  strain 
on  the  fibers  at  one  side  and  only  a  partial  detachment  of  the 
fibers  on  the  other  side  during  the  operation  of  detaching. 
The  feed-roll  must  also  be  parallel  to  the  cylinder,  otherwise 
one  side  of  the  lap  will  be  combed  more  than  the  other.  If 
any  of  these  faults  exist,  a  cloudy  and  uneven  web  will  be 
produced.  The  finger  gauge  is  used  for  this  setting;  its 
curved  face  should  be  on  the  flutes  of  the  delivery  roll,  while 
the  opposite  face  should  be  in  contact  with  the  flutes  of  the 
feed-roll,  but  these  rolls  should  not  be  set  so  close  that  the 
gauge  cannot  have  an  easy  upward  movement.  The  distance 
should  be  tested  at  both  ends  of  each  fluted  section. 


COMBERS 


§23 


This  setting  of  the  feed-roll  varies  according  to  the  staple 
and  nature  of  the  stock,  as  shown  in  Table  II. 

TABLE   II 


Cotton 

Length  of  Staple 

Inches 

Size  of  Gauge 

Inches 

American      

Egyptian  ....... 

Egyptian  and  sea-island 

About  IT 

Up   to  li 

1 2  and  longer 

IT6   to    IT6^ 

itI  to  lH 

ItI  to  2 

4.  Cushion  Plate  to  Nipper  Kiiife. — Before  setting  the  nip- 
pers, the  cushion  plate  must  be  adjusted  so  that  the  nipper 
knife,  when  down,  will  be  in  contact  with  the  cushion  plate 
at  an  even  pressure  throughout  its  entire  width.  If  it  does 
not  touch  along  its  entire  edge,  the  fibers  will  be  held  tightly 
at  one  side,  while  on  the  other  side  they  will  be  held  loosely. 
The  cotton  that  is  not  held  securely  by  the  nippers  will  be 
pulled  out  by  the  half  lap  and  eventually  arrive  at  the  waste 
can,  causing  a  waste  of  good  cotton. 

The  efficiency  of  the  half  lap  also  depends  on  this  setting. 
Care  must  also  be  taken  that  the  nose,  or  front  edge,  of  the 
cushion  plate  is  evenly  and  properly  covered,  in  order  that  it 
may  present  a  perfectly  even  surface  along  its  entire  length. 
In  setting  the  parts,  two  strips  of  ordinary  writing  paper, 
one  at  each  end  of  the  knife,  should  be  placed  between  the 
front  part  of  the  cushion  plate  and  the  overhanging  lip  of  the 
nipper  knife,  and  the  setting  between  these  parts  made  as 
close  as  possible  and  yet  allow  the  two  strips  to  be  easily 
drawn  from  between  the  lip  of  the  knife  and  the  round  nose 
of  the  cushion  when  the  knife  is  in  contact  with  the  cushion 
plate.  The  same  test  is  then  made  in  the  center  and  between 
the  ends  and  the  center.  The  fluted  edge  of  the  knife  should 
be  set  so  that  a  narrow  strip  of  paper  will  be  held  firmly 
between  the  cushion  plate  and  the  nipper  knife  when  the 
knife  is  pressed  down  on  the  cushion  plate. 

Setting  the  cushion  plate  to  the  nipper  knife  is  performed 
by  loosening  three  screws  similar  to  Jk,  Fig.  2,  and  moving  the 


23 


COMBERS 


plate  to  the  knife  by  screws  similar  to  h^.  After  the  proper 
setting  has  been  secured,  the  screws  //.,  are  screwed  as  tightly 
as  possible. 

5.  Distance  of  Setscrew  From  Stami. — Before  the  cushion 
plates  are  set  to  the  delivery  roll,  the  setscrew  z,.  Fig.  3, 
should  be  adjusted.  In  making  this  setting,  it  is  a  good 
plan  to  have  the  screw  project  through  the  arm  i^  so  that 
when  it  is  resting  against  the  stand  /,  the  arm  i^  will  be 
in  a  perpendicular  position.  This  can  be  accomplished  by 
holding  a  level  on  the  front  face  of  the  arm  i.  and  turning 


Lx^ 


Fig.  2 


the  screw  ?3  until  the  arm  i^  is  in  the  required  position. 
This  should  be  done  at  each  head.  The  only  object  of  this 
setting  is  to  have  each  head  set  alike  and  thus  have  some 
definite  basis  to  work  from  when  making  future  settings. 
6.  Cushiofi  Plate  From  Delivery  Roll. — It  is  now  necessary 
to  set  the  cushion  plates  the  desired  distance  from  the  delivery 
roll.  The  position  of  the  cushion  plates  with  relation  to  the 
portion  /  and  the  nipper  knife  has  been  determined  and  must 
not  be  disturbed;  therefore,  in  order  to  adjust  any  one  of  the 
cushion  plates  to  the  delivery  roll,  the  whole  nipper  mecha- 
nism must  be  moved.     In  making  the  setting  between  the 


COMBERS 


23 


cushion  plate  and  the  delivery  roll  two  operations  are 
employed.  In  the  first  case  a  general  setting  is  made  by 
loosening  the  bolts  (not  shown  in  Fig.  3)   that  attach  the 


^^rrr] 


Fig.  3 


nipper-mechanism  stands  /  to  the  framework,  and  moving 
this  mechanism  on  the  framework  nearer  to,  or  farther  from, 
the  delivery  roll  until  the  cushion  plate  is  exactly  the  same 
distance  from  the  delivery  roll  at   each  end,  which  insures 


§23 


COMBERS 


the  delivery  roll  and  the  nose  of  the  cushion  plate  being 
parallel.  Afterwards  a  more  accurate  setting  is  made  by 
means  of  the   setscrews   2\. 

The  entire  operation  is  as  follows:  After  loosening  the 
'bolts  that  attach  the  nipper-mechanism  stands  /  to  the  frame- 
work, the  finger  gauge  is  placed  with  its  curved  face  on  the 
delivery  roll  and  the  nipper  mechanism  moved  forwards 
until  the  round  nose  of  the  cushion  plate  is  against  the 
straight  face  of  the  gauge.  This  distance  is  tested  at  each 
end  of  the  cushion  plate  and  at  intervals  between.  When 
the  cushion  plate  has  been  set  parallel  to  the  delivery  roll,  the 
nipper  mechanism  is  tightly  secured  on  its  seat  by  means  of 
the  bolts.  Next,  the  gauge  is  again  inserted  at  each  end 
of  the  cushion  plate  and  at  intervals  along  the  plate,  and 
by  means  of  the  setscrew  i^  the  setting  is  made  so  close 
that  the  gauge  cannot  have  an  easy  vertical  movement. 

As  the  bracket  i  that  carries  the  arm  /^  swings  on  the 
center  i^,  the  effect  that  is  produced  on  the  nipper  mechanism 
by  moving  the  setscrew  i^  can  readily  be  seen.  The  settings 
of  the  cushion  plate  are  governed  by  the  length  of  the  staple, 
the  class  of  cotton,  and  the  weight  of  the  lap  used.  General 
settings  for  this  part  of  the  comber  are  given  in  Table  III. 

TABI.E   III 


Cotton 

Length  of  Staple 
Inches 

Size  of  Gauge 

Inches 

American      .... 

Egyptian 

Sea-island     .... 

li 

li  to  IT 

Over  li 

li     to  lA 
11%  to  IT 
IT     to   11^6 

7.  Distance  of  Nipper  From  Half  Lap  Wheji  Nipper  is  in 
Its  Loivest  Position. — The  setting  of  the  nipper  to  the  half  lap 
is  performed  by  the  sliding  bracket  /.,  Fig.  3,  and  setscrew  /.. 
The  bolt  holding  the  sliding  bracket  /,  should  be  loosened 
and  a  step  gauge  placed  between  the  end  of  the  setscrew  /, 
and  stand  /.     The  object  of  inserting  a  step  gauge  at  this 


10  COMBERS         •  §23 

place  is  to  swing  the  nipper  mechanism  on  the  center  /^  until 
the  nipper  knife  is  in  exactly  the  same  position  that  it 
assumes  when  the  cotton  is  being  combed  by  the  needles  on 
the  half  lap.  A  step  gauge  must  therefore  be  selected  that 
gives  the  exact  throw  to  bring  the  nipper  knife  into  the 
required  position.  During  this  setting,  however,  the  nipper 
knife  is  pressed  down  on  the  cushion  plate  and  the  lip  d^ 
projects  beyond  this  plate.  The  setting  is  made  by  inserting 
a  No.  20  comber  gauge,  Fig.  1  {a),  between  the  edge  of  the 
nipper  knife  and  the  needles  of  the  half  lap.  The  cylinder 
shaft  should  be  turned  so  that  the  points  of  the  needles 
come  directly  under  the  edge  of  the  nipper  knife.  Each  end 
of  the  nipper  is  then  accurately  adjusted  by  either  raising  or 
lowering  it  by  means  of  the  setscrews  A.  The  cylinder 
shaft  should  then  be  turned  and  the  gauge  inserted  between 
each  row  of  needles  and  the  nipper  knife. 

When  the  setting  is  completed,  it  should  be  possible  to 
move  the  gauge  the  entire  width  of  the  nipper  without  too 
much  resistance.  In  passing  the  gauge  between  the  nipper 
knife  and  the  needles,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  slide  the  gauge  on 
the  edge  of  the  knife,  that  being  a  smooth  surface.  When 
this  setting  has  been  completed,  the  bolts  that  hold  the 
sliding  brackets  A  to  the  stands  /  should  be  tightened.  The 
springs  z's  should  next  be  put  on  and  adjusted  to  the  proper 
tension.  This  may  be  done  by  the  nuts  on  the  spring  screw. 
This  method  of  setting  is  of  course  adopted  at  each  head  on 
the  comber. 

8.  Setting  the  Top  Comb. — One  of  the  top  combs  should 
next  be  set  at  an  angle  of  from  25°  to  30°.  When  making 
this  setting,  the  detaching  roll  should  be  on  the  fluted  seg- 
ment in  position  to  detach,  and  particular  care  taken  to  have 
the  top  comb  set  so  that  it  will  not  come  in  contact  with  the 
nippers  or  leather  detaching  roll.  The  brackets  ti^.  Fig.  4, 
should  be  loose  on  the  shaft  u^  so  that  they  will  allow  the 
adjustment  of  the  comb.  The  screws  holding  the  comb  to 
the  brackets  //,  should  also  be  loose.  The  quadrant  gauge 
is  used  in  making  this  setting,  it  being  so  constructed  that 
its  lower  part  fits  over  the  blade  of  the  comb,  to  which   it 


23 


COMBERS 


11 


is  secured  by  a  thumbscrew.  The  comb  is  so  set  that  the 
plumb-bob  on  the  gauge  will  fall  in  a  position  to  give  the 
correct  angle,  which  can  be  learned  from  the  scale  on  the 
gauge.  When  the  top  comb  is  at  the  correct  angle  and 
not  in  contact  with  either  the  nippers  or  leather  detaching 
roll,  the  screws  that  fasten  the  comb  at  each  end  to  the 
brackets  id,  Fig.  4,  should  be  secured. 

After  one  comb  has  been  placed  in  position  with  the  use 
of  the  quadrant  gauge,  the  remaining  top  combs  to  be  set 
are  in  some  cases  placed  in  position  by  what  is  known  as  a 
cradle,  Fig.  1  (^), which 
consists  of  a  casting 
having  two  bearing 
points  for  the  comb  to 
rest  on  and  two  set- 
screws  that  bear  against 
the  blade  of  the  comb. 
By  moving  these  set- 
screws,  the  comb  may 
be  held  at  any  desired 
angle.  Having  set  one 
comb,  the  cradle  is  set 
on  the  fluted  segment, 
the  base  of  the  cradle 
being  curved  to  con- 
form to  the  curvature  of 
the  segment.  The  top 
comb,  which  has  been 
set  by  the  quadrant  gauge,  is  then  lowered  on  to  the  cradle 
and  the  screws  of  the  cradle  regulated  so  that  they  just  bear 
against  the  blade  of  the  comb.  After  having  regulated 
the  screws  of  the  cradle,  it  is  merely  necessary,  when  it  is 
desired  to  set  another  top  comb,  to  place  it  in  the  cradle 
and  then  place  the  cradle  on  the  fluted  segment  and  secure 
the  comb  to  the  brackets  ?^,  Fig.  4,  while  the  comb  is  held  in 
position,  after  which  the  cradle  is  removed. 

The   quadrant   gauge   of   course   could   be   used   for   each 
head,  but  it  saves  time  and  is  sufficiently  accurate  to  use  the 


Fig.  4 


12  COMBERS  §23 

cradle  gauge  after  the  top  comb  of  the  first  head  has  been  set, 
especially  when  a  large  number  of  combers  have  to  be  set. 

9.  Top  Comb  From  Fluted  Segme?it. — When  the  top  comb 
has  been  set  to  the  proper  angle,  the  distance  between  it 
and  the  fluted  segment  is  regulated  by  means  of  the 
screws  Wa,  Fig.  4.  A  No.  20  gauge  may  be  used  and  the 
comb  adjusted  so  that  the  gauge  will  pass  between  it  and  the 
fluted  segment  without  too  much  resistance.  In  passing 
the  gauge  between  the  top  comb  and  fluted  segment,  it  is  a 
good  plan  to  slide  the  gauge  on  the  fluted  segment  and  drop 
the  comb  so  that  the  points  of  the  needles  can  be  felt  as  the 
gauge  passes  under  them.  The  same  method  of  setting  the 
top  comb  is  then  employed  at  each  head  of  the  comber. 
When  the  top  combs  have  all  been  set  the  proper  distance 
from  the  fluted  segment,  the  brackets  tc^  should  be  secured 
to  the  shaft  ii^  and  the  screws  u^  adjusted.  To  accomplish 
this,  the  cam  u^  on  the  cylinder  shaft  is  turned  so  that  the 
bowl  «7  will  be  on  the  part  of  the  cam  nearest  the  center.  A 
gauge  about  the  thickness  of  a  No.  18  comber  gauge  is 
placed  between  the  bowl  and  the  cam,  and  the  brackets  «« 
secured  to  the  shaft  u^  while  it  is  held  in  this  position.  The 
setscrews  iis  should  now  be  set  so  that  a  piece  of  paper  can 
be  drawn  between  the  ends  of  the  screws  and  the  projections 
on  the  brackets  u^.  These  screws  should  be  adjusted  so  that 
the  paper  will  be  drawn  out  at  an  even  tension  at  each  head. 
Care  should  be  taken  while  this  is  being  done  that  the 
screws  u,  are  resting  on  the  stands  /.  After  all  these  brackets 
have  been  set,  the  gauge  should  be  removed  and  the  lever  tie 
raised  by  hand;  by  watching  carefully,  it  may  then  be  ascer- 
tained whether  or  not  the  top  combs  move  exactly  together. 

The  last  two  settings  mentioned  in  Table  I  are  more  readily 
made  after  certain  of  the  timings  have  been  made,  and  will 
be  described  later.  

MINOR    SETTINGS 

4.  Adjusting  the  Nipper  Rods. — The  connections 
may  now  be  made  between  the  nipper  cam  and  the  brackets  e, 
Fig.  3,  that  operate  the  nipper  knife.     To  accomplish  this, 


§23 


COMBERS 


13 


disconnect  the  cam-shaft  from  the  cylinder  shaft  by  sliding 
the  gear  on  the  cam-shaft  out  of  gear  with  the  one  on  the 
cylinder  shaft  with  which  it  meshes.     The  cam-shaft  should 


then  be  turned  until  the  cam-bowl  operated  by  the  nipper 
cam  ^.,  Fig.  5,  is  in  the  position  that  it  should  occupy  when 
the  cushion  plate  is  at  its  lowest  position;  that  is,  the 
cam-bowl  will  be  at  the  toe  of  the  cam,  or  the  point  farthest 


14  COMBERS  §23 

from  the  center  of  the  cam,  as  shown  in  full  lines,  Fig.  5. 
When  the  cam-bowl  is  in  this  position,  place  the  step 
gauge  between  the  end  of  the  setscrews  i\  and  the  stands  /, 
Fig.  3,  and  connect  the  rod  g,  Fig.  5,  to  the  bracket  g^ 
and  nipper  bracket  e,  Fig.  3,  commencing  with  the  rod 
nearest  the  driving  end  of  the  machine  and  setting  that 
rod  in  each  head.  These  rods  should  be  so  adjusted  by 
the  nuts  at  the  bottom  of  the  rods  that  the  step  gauge 
may  be  moved  between  the  stand  and  the  screw  /'a  with- 
out a  great  amount  of  resistance.  When  this  has  been 
accomplished,  the  other  rods  of  each  head  similar  to  g  may 
be  connected  and  adjusted  in  like  manner.  After  this  is 
done,  the  step  gauge  should  pass  between  the  ends  of  all 
the  screws  /a  and  the  stands  /  with  the  same  resistance. 

The  step  on  the  step  gauge  to  be  used  between  /  and  /a 
depends  on  the  distance  that  the  cushion  plate  has  to  be 
depressed  in  order  to  bring  it  in  the  proper  position  for 
combing;  a  i-inch  or  f-inch  gauge  is  generally  used. 

The  cam-shaft  and  cylinder  shaft  may  now  be  connected. 
Before  this  is  done  these  two  shafts  should  be  placed  in 
their  correct  relative  positions.  First,  the  cam-shaft  should 
be  in  the  same  position  that  it  occupied  in  making  the 
previous  setting;  that  is,  the  cam-bowl  on  the  nipper  cam 
should  be  in  a  position  farthest  from  the  center  of  the 
cam.  Next,  the  cylinder  shaft  should  be  turned  so  that 
the  pointer  will  stand  at  17  on  the  index  gear.  The  gear  on 
the  cam-shaft  may  then  be  placed  in  gear  with  the  gear 
on  the  cylinder  shaft  and  secured  by  bolting  it  to  the  flange 
of  the  sleeve  on  the  cam-shaft. 

5.  The  Revolvina:  Brush. — The  revolving  brush  p, 
Fig.  6,  that  cleans  the  needles  on  the  half  lap  should  be  set 
so  that  the  ends  of  the  bristles  will  just  touch  the  brass  bars 
that  hold  the  needles.  This  setting  is  governed  by  the  extent 
to  which  the  brush  cleans  the  needles.  If  it  is  noticed  that 
waste  remains  on  the  half  lap  after  the  needles  have  been 
brushed,  the  brush  should  be  set  closer,  although  no  attempt 
should  be  made  to  set  the  brush  so  near  to  the  half  lap  that 


— ,  .j — 


V::«'5r 


o 


§23  COxMBERS  15 

those  small  portions  of  cotton  that  become  wedged  in  the 
spaces  between  the  bars  holding  the  needles  will  be  removed, 
since  these  small  portions  are  held  so  firmly  that  it  is  usually 
necessary  to  pick  them  out  with  a  piece  of  sheet  metal. 

The  bearings  of  the  brush  shaft  are  held  in  slides  in  upright 
supports,  and  when  it  is  desired  to  set  the  brushes  the  nuts 
that  hold  the  bearings  of  the  brush  shaft  are  loosened  and 
the  position  of  this  shaft  regulated  by  screws  similar  to  the 
screw  pi,  Fig.  6.  These  screws  are  connected  to  the  brackets 
that  support  the  brush  shaft  and  their  heads  are  in  contact 
with  projections  on  the  framing.  An  adjustable  gauge  some- 
times used  for  setting  the  brush  shaft  is  shown  in  Fig.  1  (/), 
and  is  composed  of  two  parts,  one  having  a  slot  through 
which  a  bolt  passes,  thus  allowing  the  gauge  to  be  made 
longer  or  shorter  and  held  at  any  desired  length  by  the  bolt. 
One  part  of  the  gauge  has  a  curved  face  similar  to  the  finger 
gauge,  while  the  other  part  is  brought  to  a  point  at  one  end. 
When  it  is  desired  to  set  the  brush  shaft  closer,  the  gauge  is 
set  so  that  the  length  from  the  center  of  the  curve  to  the  point 
is  slightly  less  than  the  distance  between  the  circumferences 
of  the  brush  shaft  and  cylinder  shaft.  The  curved  face  of 
the  gauge  is  then  placed  on  the  brush  shaft  and  this  shaft 
moved  nearer  the  cylinder  shaft  until  the  point  of  the  gauge 
comes  in  contact  with  the  latter.  The  gauge  should  be 
tried  at  both  sides  of  every  head.  The  brushes  of  the  heads 
are  all  on  one  shaft,  and  consequently  in  setting  them  care 
should  be  taken  not  to  set  one  so  much  out  of  line  with  the 
others  that  the  shaft  will  bind  in  its  bearings. 

6.  Tlie  Doffer. — The  doffer  r.  Fig.  6,  which  receives  the 
waste  cotton  from  the  brush,  should  be  set  about  iV  inch 
from  the  brush.  The  bearings  of  the  doffer  shaft  are  moved 
by  means  of  screws  similar  to  the  one  shown  at  r,.  Fig.  6. 
The  doffers  for  all  of  the  heads  are  carried  on  one  shaft, 
and  in  setting  them  care  must  be  taken  to  see  that  this  shaft 
can  revolve  freely  in  its  bearings.  The  bearings  of  the 
doffer-comb  shaft  are  attached  to  the  bearings  of  the  doffer 
shaft,  so  that  the  relative  positions  of  the  doffer  and  doffer 


16  COMBERS  §23 

comb  are  not  changed  when  the  dofifer  shaft  is  set  closer  to 
the  brush  shaft.  Adjustments  are  provided,  however,  for 
setting  the  doffer  comb  to  the  doffer  by  having  slots  in  the 
brackets  that  support  the  comb.  The  comb  should  be  set 
about  iV  inch  from  the  doffer  at  the  lowest  point  of  its 
stroke  and  at  an  angle  of  about  30°  from  the  perpendicular 
at  the  upper  part  of  its  stroke. 

7.  Top  Feed-Roll. — The  top  feed-roll  is  now  placed  in 
position  and  adjusted  so  that  it  will  be  parallel  with  the 
bottom  feed-roll  and  in  such  a  position  that  the  ends  of  the 
arms  c^.  Fig.  6,  will  not  come  in  contact  with  the  ends 
of  the  nipper  bracket.  The  adjustment  is  made  by  moving 
the  stud  on  which  the  arms  c,  are  pivoted.  The  springs  f, 
should  now  be  put  on  and  adjusted  so  that  the  tension  will  be 
equal  on  both  ends  of  the  roller. 

The  tins  that  cover  the  brushes  and  cylinders  should  be  set 
square  and  true  and  in  such  a  position  that  they  will  not  be 
in  contact  with  the  cylinders,  brushes,  or  doffers.  The  lap 
apron  should  be  placed  in  position  and  adjusted  so  that  it  is 
level  and  true  and  exactly  in  the  center  of  the  head.  The 
brush  for  cleaning  the  feed-roll,  which  is  adjustable  on  the 
lap  apron,  should  be  so  set  that  the  ends  of  the  bristles  will 
just  touch  the  flutes  of  the  bottom  feed-roll. 

8.  Sliver  Pans. — The  sliver  pans  should  be  placed  in 
position  and  adjusted  so  that  they  set  squarely  on  the  shaft  A, 
Fig.  6,  and  so  that  the  trumpets  are  in  their  proper  positions 
relative   to   the   calender  rolls. 

9.  Draw-Box. — The  rolls  of  the  draw-box  should  be  set 
the  proper  distances  from  center  to  center  according  to  the 
staple  being  run.  The  description  of  other  settings  will  be 
better  understood  after  the  timing  of  certain  parts  has  been 
considered,  and  therefore  will  be  given  kiter. 


I 


23  COMBERS  17 


TIMING 

10.  After  all  the  parts  are  set,  the  cams  must  be  adjusted 
so  that  they  will  operate  the  different  motions,  or  place  in  posi- 
tion the  different  parts  that  they  control,  at  exactly  the  right 
moment  when  they  are  required  to  perform  their  work.  In 
order  to  regulate  this  timing  and  indicate  the  time  when  each 
operation  should  be  set  in  motion  or  each  part  in  position,  it 
is  necessary  to  take  some  revolving  part  of  the  comber  as  a 
basis  from  which  to  work  and  to  time  all  parts  in  relation  to  it. 
The  cylinder  is  taken  as  a  basis,  as  all  the  intermittent  move- 
ments of  the  comber  are  completed  within  the  time  occupied 
by  one  revolution  of  the  cylinder.  It  is  furthermore  neces- 
sary to  have  some  means  of  indicating  in  what  position  the 
cylinder  should  be  when  each  individual  motion  takes  place 
or  each  individual  part  arrives  in  its  proper  position. 

For  this  purpose,  a  gear  of  80  teeth,  on  the  cylinder 
shaft,  is  divided  into  twenty  equal  parts,  or  sections,  which 
are  numbered  on  the  rim  of  the  gear  from  1  to  20,  each 
section  containing  4  teeth.  This  gear  is  known  as  the 
index  gear.  A  vertical  index  finger  is  placed  on  a  station- 
ary part  of  the  comber  directly  over  the  cylinder  shaft, 
pointing  upwards,  and  indicates  by  its  relation  to  the  posi- 
tion of  the  index  gear  the  position  of  the  cylinder. 

The  numbers  are  so  placed  that  as  the  cylinder  revolves, 
No.  1  is  first  brought  opposite  the  index  finger,  then  No.  2, 
No.  3,  and  so  on  up  to  20.  Each  section  of  the  index 
gear  is  spoken  of  as  a  whole  number,  and  each  tooth  in  a 
section  is  spoken  of  as  i;  that  is,  if  the  cylinder  has  revolved 
until  the  comber  is  said  to  be  at  51,  it  indicates  that  the 
index  finger  is  at  the  second  tooth  beyond  the  section 
marked  5  on  the  index  gear,  or  22  teeth  from  the  section 
marked  20.  It  is  sometimes  the  custom  in  a  mill  to  read 
as  a  clock  is  read,  the  position  of  the  gear  with  reference 
to  the  index  finger;  thus,  the  above  timing  would  be  read  as 
half-past  five.  If  the  index  is  at  7,  or  if  it  is  said  to  be 
7  o'clock,  it  means  that  the  cylinder  has  been  revolved  until 
seven   sections,  or  28  teeth,  have  passed  the  index  finger. 


18  COMBERS  §23 

From  this  description  it  will  be  seen  that  if  the  motions  of 
a  comber  are  listed  according  to  their  precedence  and  the 
timing  of  each  indicated  according  to  the  position  of  the 
index  gear  with  relation  to  the  index  finger,  the  timing  will 
be  indicated  by  continually  increasing  numbers,  and  a  com- 
parison of  the  timings  will  show  at  a  glance  the  relation 
between  the  different  motions  and  the  relative  time  that  will 
elapse  between  them. 

The  actions  to  be  timed  are:  (1)  The  motion  of  the  feed- 
rolls;  (2)  the  motion  of  the  nippers;  (3)  the  placing  of 
the  detaching  roll  and  top  roll  in  position  for  detaching; 
(4)  removal  of  detaching  roll  from  detaching  position;  (5) 
motions  of  the  delivery  roll;    (6)  movement  of  the  top  comb. 

11.  Timing  the  Feed. — The  time  when  the  feeding 
begins  to  take  place  varies  from  41  to  6,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  more  waste  is  taken  out  of  some  cottons  than  others, 
and  the  later  the  feed  the  more  waste  is  taken  out.  When 
combing  Egyptian  cotton,  the  feeding  is  done  comparatively 
early,  as  the  fibers  of  this  cotton  do  not  vary  much  from  the 
average  length,  thus  requiring  the  least  waste  to  be  removed; 
consequently,  this  cotton  is  the  easiest  to  comb.  The  fibers 
of  the  sea-island  cotton  vary  from  the  average  length  more 
than  the  fibers  of  other  cottons  that  are  combed,  so  that  sea- 
island  is  fed  late;  Peelers  and  other  American  cottons  occupy 
about  a  central  position  between  these  extremes. 

When  timing  tlie  feed  the  cylinder  is  turned  to  the 
desired  position  and  the  pin  c^,  Fig.  7,  so  placed  that  it  will 
just  enter  the  star  gear.  The  position  of  the  disk  c^  that 
carries  the  pin  may  be  changed  in  relation  to  the  index  gear  b 
by  means  of  the  slot  Cs,  so  that  the  time  that  the  pin  enters 
the  star  gear  may  be  altered. 

12.  Timing  tlie  Nippers. — In  order  to  time  the  nip- 
pers, set  the  index  gear  at  9  and  loosen  the  nipper  cam, 
which  is  bolted  to  a  sleeve  on  the  cam-shaft.  This  sleeve 
carries  a  disk  that  has  a  slot  similar  to  c^,  Fig.  7,  and  the 
cam  is  fastened  to  the  sleeve  by  means  of  a  bolt  passing 
through  the  cam  and  entering  the  slot,  thus  allowing  the 


§23 


COMBERS 


19 


cam  to  be  moved  on  the  sleeve.  This  cam  should  be  fixed 
on  the  sleeve  in  such  a  position  that  it  will  cause  the  screws  ?\, 
Fig.  3,  just  to  leave  the  stands  when  the  index  gear  is  at  9. 
By  placing  a  slip  of  paper  between  the  screw  zVand  the  stand 
and  pulling  on  it  lightly,  at  the  same  time  turning  the 
driving  shaft  of  the  machine,  the  time  when  the  paper  is 
released  will  denote  the  time  when  the  screws  Za  are  leaving 
the  stands. 

If  it  is  not  possible  to  have  the  screws  z,  leave  the  stands 
when  the  index  gear  is  at  9,  because  of  the  relative  positions 


Fig.  7 

of  the  cylinder  shaft  and  the  cam-shaft,  the  gear  on  the 
cam-shaft  may  again  be  moved  out  of  gear  and  the  cam- 
shaft turned  until  the  nipper  cam  is  in  the  desired  position, 
when  the  gear  may  again  be  meshed  with  the  index  gear. 
In  order  to  avoid  the  liability  of  having  to  move  the  cam- 
shaft when  timing  the  nippers,  the  gears  on  the  cam-shaft 
and  cylinder  shaft  may  be  meshed  when  the  index  gear  is 
at  17  and  the  bowl  on  the  nipper  cam  is  in  the  position  it 
should  be  when  the  rods  g,  Fig.  5,  are  set.      The  relative 


20  COMBERS  §23 

positions  of  the  cylinder  shaft  and  cam-shaft  will  then  be 
such  that  the  motions  received  from  the  cam-shaft  may  be 
adjusted  by  slightly  altering  the  positions  of  the  cams  on 
their  respective  sleeves,  which  are  keyed  to  the  cam-shaft. 

The  nipper  knife  should  leave  the  cushion  plate  at 
about  42;  this  can  also  be  set  by  placing  paper  in  the  nippers 
and  noting  when  it  is  gripped  as  the  driving  shaft  of  the 
machine  is  turned.  If,  after  having  set  the  cam  so  that  the 
screws  z'a.  Fig.  3,  leave  the  stand  at  9,  the  knife  does  not 
leave  the  cushion  plate  at  exactly  the  proper  time,  a  further 
adjustment  of  the  nippers  may  be  made  by  means  of  the 
screws  ^6,  g^-,  Fig.  5. 

The  lever  g^  gives  motion  to  the  nipper  shaft  g^  through 
the  casting^,  by  means  of  the  screws  ^s,  ^s.  If,  therefore, 
the  nipper  cam  is  not  placed  in  position  for  the  screws  z'a. 
Fig.  3,  to  leave  the  stands  when  the  index  gear  is  at  9,  the 
screws  on  the  casting  g^  may  be  adjusted,  changing  the  rela- 
tive positions  of  the  nipper  shaft  g^  and  the  cam.  These 
adjustments  may  be  made  until  the  relative  position  of  the 
nippers  with  the  cam-bowl  in  the  cam-course  is  correct  when 
the  cam-bowl  is  at  any  point  in  the  course. 

13.  Placing  the  Detaching  Roll  and  Top  Roll  in 
Position  for  Detaching. — The  lifter  cam/,.  Fig.  8,  which 
controls  the  leather  detaching  roll  q,  next  requires  adjusting. 
This  cam  is  mounted  and  fastened  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  nipper  cam  and  should  be  placed  in  position  so  that  the 
leather  detaching  roll  will  come  in  contact  with  the  fluted 
segment  when  the  index  gear  is  at  6f.  This  may  be  tested 
by  placing  strips  of  paper  on  the  fluted  segment  and  observ- 
ing when  they  are  held  between  the  segment  and  the  roll. 

14.  Distance  of  Blocks  From  Bearings  of  Detach- 
ing Roll  When  Bearing  on  Segment. — The  two  last  set- 
tings mentioned  in  the  list  of  settings  may  now  be  made. 
The  lifter  cam  should  be  in  such  a  position  that,  when  the 
roll  touches  the  segment,  the  blocks  4,  Fig.  8,  will  not  be  in 
their  lowest  positions,  but  will  continue  to  move  down  as 
the  cam  revolves.     When  the  blocks  L  are  in  their  lowest 


23 


COMBERS 


21 


positions,  there  should  be  a  space  between  them  and  the  brass 
bushings  of  the  leather  detaching  roll  equal  to  a  No.  23 
comber  gauge.  The  blocks  may  be  adjusted  by  the  screws 
/«,  Fig.  8,  so  that  the  distance  between  them  and  the  brass 
bushings  may  be  regulated  when  the  cam  has  lowered  the 


Fig.  8 

blocks  as  far  as  possible.  When  this  setting  has  been  made 
as  described,  it  is  certain  that  the  detaching  roll  is  properly 
in  contact  with  the  fluted  segment. 

15.     Setting  the  Top  Roll  From  Leather  Detaching 
Roll. — When  the  detaching  roll  is  properly  in  contact  with 


22  COMBERS  §23 

the  fluted  segment,  the  top  roll  should  be  set  from  the 
detaching  roll  with  a  No.  21  comber  gauge.  This  is  accom- 
pHshed  by  loosening  the  setscrews  that  hold  the  supports 
for  the  bearings  of  the  roll  to  the  shaft  /,. 

16.  Removal  of  Detaching  Roll  From  Detaching 
Position. — The  lifter  cam  should  now  be  in  position  so 
that,  in  addition  to  causing  the  detaching  roll  to  come  in 
contact  with  the  segment  at  6f  and  moving  the  blocks  the 
required  distance  from  the  bushings,  it  will  also  remove  the 
detaching  roll  from  the  segment  at  Oi.  This  can  also  be 
tested  by  paper  placed  between  the  segment  and  the  roll, 
which  should  release  the  paper  at  9h  If  the  cam  is  in  its 
proper  position  when  the  detaching  roll  touches  the  segment, 
but  is  not  in  a  position  to  remove  the  detaching  roll  at  the 
proper  time,  it  can  be  remedied  by  an  adjustment  provided 
on  the  lever  k^,  Fig.  8,  similar  to  the  one  described  in  con- 
nection with  the  lever  ^3,  Fig.  5.  This  adjustment  is  for  the 
purpose  of  regulating  the  position  of  the  lifter  shaft  k  in 
relation  to  the  cam,  so  that  the  latter  may  be  in  a  position 
to  place  the  roll  in  the  correct  positions  at  the  given  times. 
Any  adjustment  made  by  the  screws  k,  will  change  the  dis- 
tance between  the  blocks  /^  and  the  brass  bushings  on  the 
leather  detaching  roll. 

17.  Timing  the  Motions  of  the  Delivery  Roll. — The 

cam  that  gives  to  the  delivery  roll  the  rotary  motion,  which 
is  transmitted  to  the  detaching  roll  and  the  top  roll,  should 
be  set  so  that  when  the  index  finger  is  at  about  I2,  the 
cotton  will  be  started  back  to  be  pieced  up  and,  when  the 
index  is  at  about  6,  this  motion  should  be  reversed  and 
the  cotton  delivered.  The  cam  that  places  the  pawl  of  this 
motion  in  and  out  of  contact  with  the  gear  2%,  Fig.  9,  is 
joined  to  the  cam  that  imparts  the  rocking  motion  to  the 
pawl  and,  when  the  latter  cam  is  set,  the  former  is  usually 
very  near  its  correct  position.  It  is  capable  of  being 
adjusted  independently,  however,  so  that  it  will  correctly 
govern  the  time  that  the  pawl  is  placed  in,  and  taken  out  of, 
contact  with  the  gear  v^.     The  pawl  is  allowed  to  come  in 


23 


COMBERS 


23 


contact  with  the  gear  when  the  index  gear  is  at  about  li,  the 
time  that  this  pawl  is  placed  in  contact  with  the  gear  and 
taken  out  of  contact  governing  the  amount  of  overlap  in  the 
piecing.     The  usual  amount  of  overlap  is  about  f  inch,  or 

practically  halt  the  length  of  the  fibers. 

18.  Tlie  Toi^  Comb. — The  time  when  the  top  comb 
should  first  be  do\\-n  varies  from  5  to  6.  The  top  comb 
should  always  be  down  when  the  detaching  commences. 
The  timing  of  the  comb  may  be  regulated  by  moving  the 


'^^-''. 


Fig.  9 

cam  Hi,  Fig.  4.  which  is  on  the  cylinder  shaft  and  imparts 
motion  to  the  top-comb  shaft  «,. 

19.  In  regard  to  settings  and  timings  it  may  be  stated 
that  more  waste  may  be  removed  by  feeding  at  a  late  period, 
by  nipping  later,  by  closer  settings  of  the  nippers  and  top 
combs  to  the  cylinders,  and  by  increasing  the  angle  of  the 
top  comb.  The  following  are  good  settings  and  timings 
for  a  comber  running  a  lap  of  260  grains  of  Egyptian  cot- 
ton with  a  staple  of  1|  inches  and  removing  about  16  per 
cent,  waste: 


24  COMBERS  §23 

Feed-roll  from  delivery  roll  .    .  iH-inch  finger  gauge 

Cushion  plate  from  delivery  roll  Ins-inch  finger  gauge 

Distance  of  screws  /a  from  stands  i-inch  step  gauge 

Distance  of  nipper  from  half  lap  No.  20  comber  gauge 

Angle  of  top  comb 28° 

Top  comb  from  fluted  segment  .  No.  20  comber  gauge 

Distance  of  blocks  h  from  bear- 
ings of  detaching  rolls  ....  No.  23  comber  gauge 

Top  roll  from  leather  detaching 

roll No.  21  comber  gauge 

Feeds  at 5,    index  gear 

Nipper  knife  leaves  cushion  plate 

at 42,  index  gear 

Nipper    knife     touches     cushion 

plate    at 8f ,  index  gear 

Leather   detaching    roll    touches 

segment  at 61,  index  gear 

Leather    detaching    roll    leaves 

segment  at 91,  index  gear 

Delivery  roll  reverses  at   ....  2,    index  gear 

Delivery  roll  delivers  at    ...    .  62,  index  gear 

Top  comb  down  at 6,  .  index  gear 

20.  Because  of  the  difference  in  construction  between 
double-  and  single-nip  combers,  there  is  a  slight  difference  in 
timing.  This  is  shown  by  the  following  comparison  of  these 
types  when  equipped  with  the  quadrant  motion.  This  timing 
is  for  sea-island  cotton.  Single-Nip   Double-Nip 

Feeds  at      5  4i  and  14i 

Nippers  close 91  91  and  194" 

Leather  detaching  roll   touches 

segment      6f  6f  and  16f 

Delivery  roll  reverses      ....  20f  20f  and  10| 

Delivery  roll  delivers 6  61  and  I64 

Top  comb  down Si  42  and  142 

Clutch  thrown  in 20i  20i  and  lOi 

21.  In  some  cases  where  especially  fine  yarns  are  to  be 
produced,  the  percentage  of  waste  taken  out  by  the  combing 


§23  COMBERS  25 

is  not  considered  sufficient  and  double  combinff  is  per- 
formed. Where  this  process  is  used,  the  cans  of  sliver 
delivered  from  the  combers  may  be  placed  at  the  back  of  the 
sliver-lap  machine  and  the  entire  process  repeated,  or  as  is 
more  often  done,  the  cans  may  be  placed  at  the  back  of  a 
ribbon-lap  machine  that,  instead  of  having  lap  rolls,  has 
a  back  similar  in  construction  to  that  of  the  sliver  lap,  each 
delivery,  however,  being  fed  only  8  or  10  ends.  The  laps 
from  this  machine  are  then  placed  on  the  lap  rolls  of  the 
comber.  After  the  combing  operation  the  cotton  is  sub- 
jected to  the  drawing  processes,  whether  it  has  been  combed 
once  or  twice. 


MANAGEMENT  OF  THE  COMBER  ROOM 

22.  Important  Points. — As  the  comber  room  uses 
only  the  best  cotton,  from  which  the  finest  and  the  special 
grades  of  yarn  are  produced,  there  are  a  great  many  important 
points  to  be  looked  after,  especially  those  in  relation  to 
economy. 

1.  The  needles  on  the  half  lap  should  receive  careful  atten- 
tion and  any  that  are  bent  or  crooked  should  be  straightened 
by  a  pair  of  special  pliers  provided  for  this  purpose.  If 
there  are  too  many  bent  or  broken  needles,  the  half  lap  should 
be  taken  out  and  new  needles  put  in.  Extra  half  laps  are 
usually  provided  so  that  the  machine  will  not  have  to  remain 
idle  during  the  time  that  a  half  lap  is  being  repaired. 

If  the  several  matrices  to  which  the  needles  are  attached 
are  not  carefully  joined  to  each  other,  there  will  be  a  large 
accumulation  of  waste,  which  will  become  so  strongly  fast- 
ened that  the  brush  will  not  be  able  to  remove  it.  These 
collections  of  cotton  should  be  removed  by  hand  at  the  back 
of  the  comber. 

2.  The  brushes  that  clean  the  half  laps  should  have  the 
waste  removed  from  their  bristles  about  once  a  month. 
When  performing  this  operation,  a  rake,  shown  in  Fig.  10, 
is  used.  When  cleaning  the  brushes,  the  feed-roll  should  be 
thrown  out  of  gear  and  the  ends  allowed  to  run  through  so 


26 


COMBERS 


23 


that  the  dust  will  not  get  into  the  good  cotton.  The  laps 
should  also  be  protected  by  a  cloth. 

As  the  bristles  on  these  brushes  wear  down,  they  should 
be  readjusted  so  as  to  be  kept  in  contact  with  and  clean  the 
cylinder  needles.  As  the  brushes  become  smaller  by  the 
bristles  being  worn  down,  it  is  sometimes  found  necessary 
to  change  the  speed  of  the  brush  shaft.  Through  continued 
wear  and  readjustment  the  bristles  become  short  and  soft 
and  the  old  brushes  should  then  be  replaced  by  new  ones. 
When  replacing  the  old  brushes  with  new  ones,  a  complete 
new  set  should  be  used  and  care  should  be  taken  that  they 
are  all  of  equal  diameters,  as  all  the  brushes  for  the  heads  of 
a  comber  are  mounted  on  one  shaft. 

3.  The  condition  of  the  leather  detaching  roll  has  much  to 
do  with  the  quality  of  the  work.  This  roll  should  be  per- 
fectly  true    and   should   be   varnished   about   once   a   week. 


Fig.  10 


Care  should  also  be  taken  in  oiling  this  roll  to  see  that  suffi- 
cient oil  is  put  on  its  bearings  to  give  them  proper  lubrication, 
and  at  the  same  time  that  the  amount  is  not  so  large  that 
the  oil  will  run  out  on  the  web  and  cause  bad  work.  Thick 
and  thin  places  in  the  web  are  sometimes  an  indication  that 
the  detaching  roll  is  in  poor  condition,  that  is,  improperly 
covered  or  varnished,  or  that  the  bearings  of  the  roll  are  not 
properly  lubricated.  This  defect  may  also  be  caused  by  the 
detaching  roll  not  touching  the  segment  at  the  proper  time. 
4.  Top  combs  should  be  looked  after  very  carefully,  since 
if  the  needles  are  bent,  hooked,  or  broken  out,  the  web  of 
cotton  will  be  stringy  when  it  enters  the  pan,  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  cotton  passing  through  is  not  properly  combed  by  the 
top  comb.     These  should  be  brushed  out  twice  a  day  with  a 


§23  COMBERS  27 

stiff  brush  furnished  for  this  purpose.  They  should  also 
be  looked  over  once  a  week,  when  the  needles  should  be 
straightened  and  smoothed  or,  if  in  the  opinion  of  the  one 
looking  them  over,  their  condition  is  not  good  enough,  the 
top  comb  should  be  taken  out  and  reneedled.  If  the  points 
of  the  needles  are  only  slightly  damaged,  they  may  be 
remedied  by  being  rubbed  with  a  piece  of  fine  emery  cloth 
fixed  to  a  board. 

5.  The  table,  table  calender  rolls,  and  top  of  the  coiler  should 
be  cleaned  and  polished  with  whiting  twice  a  week  and  all 
dirt  kept  from  these  parts  of  the  machine. 

6.  The  payis  should  be  wiped  out  with  whiting  at  least 
once  a  week  and  should  always  present  a  bright  appearance; 
all  dirt  should  be  kept  out  of  the  flutes  of  the  feed-rolls, 
delivery  rolls,  and  top  rolls. 

7.  While  cleaning  the  front  of  a  comber  the  machine 
should  be  stopped,  because  all  loose  fly,  dirt,  and  dust  that 
have  been  taken  out  of  the  cotton  and  have  accumulated  on 
the  parts  to  be  brushed  are  liable  to  return  to  the  combed 
cotton.  When  starting  the  comber,  the  end  should  be 
broken  at  the  coiler  and  allowed  to  run  about  half  a  minute 
before  it  is  pieced  up,  to  insure  that  no  dirty  cotton  passes 
through  with  the  good  cotton  into  the  can. 

The  ceiling  should  be  brushed  and  hangers  and  pulleys 
cleaned  at  a  time  when  the  combers  are  not  running.  When 
the  combers  are  started  again  after  the  ceiling  has  been 
cleaned,  the  ends  should  be  broken  at  the  coiler  and  all  dirt 
brushed  from  the  front  of  the  comber  before  the  end  is 
pieced  up. 

8.  In  the  comber,  single  and  double  should  be  looked  out 
for.  If  an  end  breaks  on  the  table  or  in  one  of  the  pans  and 
the  other  five  ends  continue  to  run  through  the  draw-box,  it 
makes  the  resulting  sliver  too  light.  Whenever  an  end  is 
seen  to  be  broken,  it  should  be  pieced  up  and  the  sliver  that 
has  been  delivered  into  the  can  for  the  period  that  the  end 
has  been  broken  should  be  removed.  In  the  case  of  double 
— that  is,  where  one  end  has  broken  on  the  table  and  after 
a  time  has  doubled  on  itsslf  and  been  drawn  along  by  the 


28  COMBERS  §23 

friction  of  the  other  slivers — the  amount  of  sliver  delivered 
into  the  can  during  that  period  should  also  be  removed. 

23.  Oiling  and  Cleaning. — In  the  comber,  as  in  every 
other  machine  in  a  mill,  certain  parts  must  be  oiled;  this 
should  be  periodically  attended  to.  All  the  more  important 
parts  ought  to  be,  and  generally  are,  oiled  by  one  whose 
special  duty  it  is  to  attend  to  this.  These  parts  consist  of  all 
the  gearing  and  motions  that  need  oiling  in  the  headstock  of 
the  comber,  all  the  cam-courses  and  cam-bowls  and  the  loose 
pulleys.  If  the  cam-courses  and  cam-bowls  are  allowed  to 
become  dry,  the  bowls  will  wear  away  very  quickly  and 
become  too  small  for  the  course,  thus  causing  bad  work. 

About  once  or  twice  a  year  all  the  working  parts  of  the 
comber  should  be  taken  down,  thoroughly  cleaned,  and  any 
parts  needing  repairs  should  be  attended  to,  such  as  cushion 
plates  recovered,  needles  repaired,  new  brushes  put  in,  or 
the  fillet  on  doffers  replaced.  When  this  has  been  attended 
to,  the  parts  should  be  put  together  and  set  as  previously 
described. 

24.  Waste. — The  amount  of  waste  being  removed  by 
the  various  machines  combing  different  kinds  of  cotton  should 
be  ascertained  often  enough  to  insure  that  the  proper  percent- 
age of  waste  is  being  taken  out.  This  is  done  as  follows: 
After  making  certain  that  the  laps  are  all  right  and  that  the 
comber  is  working  properly,  the  waste  cans  at  the  back  are 
removed  and  boards  placed  on  supports  in  such  positions  that 
the  waste  will  be  delivered  from  the  doffers  on  the  boards. 
The  boards  generally  used  for  this  purpose  are  about  I  inch 
thick  and  have  their  tops  varnished  in  order  to  obtain  a 
smooth  surface.  The  comber  is  then  operated  until  the 
doffer  comb  is  at  the  lowest  part  of  its  swing,  after  which  the 
waste  at  the  back  is  all  removed  and  the  sliver  broken  at  the 
point  where  it  is  leaving  the  front  calender  rolls.  The  com- 
ber is  next  started  and  allowed  to  run  untiK  it  has  made 
about  40  nips.  The  cotton  delivered  by  the  front  calender 
rolls  is  then  kept  as  one  portion,  while  the  waste  delivered  on 
the  boards  is  taken  as  another  portion.     These  two  portions 


§23 


COMBERS 


29 


of  cotton  are  placed  on  a  pair  of  scales,  Fig.  11,  which,  instead 
of  denoting  weight,  denotes  the  percentage  of  waste. 

Another  method  for  finding  the  percentage  of  waste  is 
to  weigh  each  portion  and  add  the  weight  of  waste  to  the 
weight  of  combed  cotton  and  divide  this  result  into  the 
weight  of  the  waste.  If  the  comber  is  taking  out  too  much 
or  too  little  waste,  any  of  the  settings  and  timings  that  have 
been  described  as  regulating  the  amount  of  waste  may  be 
changed.     The   amount   of  waste   will  vary  under  the  very 


best  circumstances  from  1  to  3  per  cent.,  and  due  allowance 
should  be  made  for  this. 

Example. — If  60  grains  of  sliver  is  delivered  from  a  certain  comber 
in  a  given  number  of  nips  and  the  waste  amounts  to  15  grains,  what 
percentage  of  waste  is  being  removed? 
Solution. —      60  gr.  weight  of  sliver 
15  gr.  weight  of  waste 
75  gr.  total  weight 
15  -f-  75  =  .20,  or  20  per  cent.     Ans. 

25.  Speed  of  Combei'. — In  speaking  of  the  speed  of  a 
comber  it  is  said  to  make  so  many  nips  per  minute  and  not 
revolutions  per  minute,  as  in  the  case  of  the  other  machines 
that  have  been  described.     By  this  is  meant  that  every  time 


30  COMBERS  §23 

the  nipper  jaws  close  a  nip  is  made,  which  in  the  case  of  a 
single-nip  comber  is  one  for  each  complete  revolution  of  the 
cylinder  shaft.  In  the  double-nip  machine  the  comber  makes 
two  nips  to  every  complete  revolution  of  the  cylinder  shaft. 
A  good  working  speed  for  a  single-nip  comber  is  about 
85  nips  per  minute,  while  a  double-nip  comber  produces 
good  work  when  running  120  nips  per  minute. 

26.  The  weight  of  a  comber  with  six  heads  is  about 
3,500  pounds,  and  with  eight  heads  4,500  pounds.  A  single- 
nip  comber  with  six  heads  requires  f  horsepower  and  with 
eight  heads  I  horsepower,  while  a  double-nip  comber  of 
six  heads  requires  I  horsepower  and  with  eight  heads 
8^  horsepower.  The  floor  space  occupied  by  a  single  nip 
6-head  machine  for  Sf-inch  laps,  and  also  for  an  8-head 
machine  of  the  same  type  is  about  13  feet  by  3  feet  5  inches 
and  16  feet  by  3  feet  5  inches,  respectively. 

The  production  of  a  single-nip  comber  varies  from 
225  pounds  to  450  pounds  per  week  of  60  hours,  while  the 
production  of  a  double-nip  varies  from  300  pounds  to 
550  pounds  per  week  of  60  hours. 


FLY  FRAMES 

(PART   1) 


GENERAL  CONSTRUCTION  OF  FLY 
FRAMES 


INTRODUCTION 

1.  After  the  sliver  has  been  formed  at  the  card  and  its 
structure  improved  at  the  drawing  frames  or  perfected  by  the 
use  of  combing  machinery,  much  foreign  matter  and  impuri- 
ties have  been  removed  from  the  raw  stock,  the  fibers  have 
been  carded,  straightened,  and  laid  parallel  to  one  another, 
and  the  sliver  has  been  evened  throughout  its  whole  length, 
but  it  is  still  in  too  bulky  a  form  and  must  be  further 
attenuated  before  it  is  sufficiently  fine  to  be  run  through  the 
machine  that  completes  the  operation  of  making  it  into  yarn. 

In  addition  to  attenuating  the  sliver  until  the  required 
weight  per  yard  is  obtained,  the  opportunity  is  also  taken,  in 
several  machines,  to  multiply  the  number  of  doublings,  which 
not  only  tends  to  retain  the  evenness  of  the  sliver  produced 
at  the  drawing  frames,  but  also  to  improve  on  it.  The  sliver, 
as  it  is  attenuated  by  the  processes  that  follow  the  drawing 
frames,  is  known  as  roving;  an  idea  of  the  extent  to  which  this 
roving  is  drawn  out  before  it  is  considered  suitable  to  be  spun 
into  yarn  by  the  mule  or  spinning  frame  may  be  gained  by 
considering  that  a  common  weight  for  sliver  at  the  drawing 
frame  is  60  grains  to  the  yard,  from  which  roving  weighing 
1.19  grains  to  the  yard  is  commonly  made  before  being  spun 
into  yarn,  the  sliver  thus  having  been  reduced  in  weight  in 
about  the  proportion  of  50  to  1.      For  finer  work  a  sliver  of 

For  notice  of  copyright,  see  page  immediately  following  the  title  page 
g24 


2  FLY  FRAMES  §24 

45  grains  to  the  yard  might  be  made  into  a  roving  of  .3  grain 
to  the  yard  or  an  attenuation  in  the  proportion  of  150  to  1. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  properly  perform  this  attenuation 
by  one  process,  and  consequently  the  cotton  must  pass 
through  three  or  four  machines  before  going  to  the  mule  or 
spinning  frame. 

The  machines  used  in  modern  mills  to  effect  this  attenua- 
tion are  known  collectively  as  fly  frames,  although  some- 
times called  speeders.  The  expression  fly  frames  should 
be  applied  generally  to  all  these  frames  as  at  present  con- 
structed, since  the  term  speeder  really  refers  to  a  machine 
that  is  not  now  made  and  is  only  in  use  to  a  very  small 
extent.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  term  has  obtained 
such  a  hold  in  some  manufacturing  districts  that  it  will  never 
pass  into  disuse.  Fly  frames  are  divided  into  slubbers,  hiter- 
mediates,  and  roving  frames  where  three  frames  are  used 
between  the  drawing  and  spinning  frames.  Where  four 
frames  are  used  they  are  generally  known  as  the  slubber, 
intermediate,  roviyig  frame,  and  jack  frame;  in  this  case  the 
word  jack  is  used  to  indicate  a  fine  roving  frame,  sometimes 
called  a  jack  roving  frame.  The  frame  following  the  inter- 
mediates is  sometimes  called  a  fine  frame.  A  much  better 
method  of  naming  the  machines,  which  is  used  in  some  parts 
of  the  United  States  and  should  be  uniformly  adopted,  is  to 
speak  of  the  first  machine  after  the  drawing  as  the  slubber; 
the  last  machine  before  the  spinning  as  the  roving  frame; 
while  the  intermediates,  if  more  than  one  in  number,  are 
spoken  of  as  the  first  and  second  intermediates,  respectively. 

All  the  machines  classed  under  the  head  of  fly  frames  are 
practically  of  the  same  type  of  construction,  the  only  differ- 
ences being  in  the  details.  One  point  to  be  noted,  however, 
is  that  since  the  roving  is  gradually  drawn  finer  at  each 
succeeding  process,  it  is  necessary  that  certain  parts  of 
the  intermediate  frame  should  be  smaller  than  the  same 
parts  of  the  slubber,  in  order  to  accommodate  themselves 
to  the  decreasing  size  of  the  roving;  the  same  is  also 
true  in  regard  to  the  roving  frame  as  compared  with  the 
intermediate. 


J  24 


§24  FLY  FRAMES  3 

2.  Fly  frames  have  as  their  objects:  (a)  the  reduction  of 
the  thickness  of  the  sliver,  (d)  the  evening  of  the  product, 
{c)  the  twisting  of  the  roving,  (d)  the  winding  of  the  roving 
on  a  bobbin.  The  attenuation  of  the  sliver  renders  the  third 
object  necessary,  since,  as  the  sliver  is  reduced  in  size,  it 
naturally  becomes  weaker  and  must  be  twisted  in  order  to 
enable  it  to  hold  together  in  passing  to  the  next  process. 
Twisting  the  sliver  is  followed  by  winding  it  on  a  bobbin, 
since  the  reduced  sliver  must  be  laid  in  such  form  as  will 
allow  it  to  be  rapidly  revolved  around  a  spindle.  The 
last  two  objects  will  be  found  to  be  far  more  difficult  of 
attainment  than  the  first. 

The  principles  adopted  to  obtain  the  objects  mentioned 
are:  (a)  roll  drafting;  (d)  doubling;  (c)  securely  holding 
the  roving  at  two  points,  viz.,  the  bite  of  the  delivery  rolls 
and  the  bobbin  on  which  the  roving  is  wound,  and  also 
passing  it  through  what  is  known  as  a  f/yer,  which  revolv- 
ing rapidly  inserts  the  necessary  twist;  {d)  having  either 
the  surface  speed  of  the  bobbin  exceed  the  speed  of  the 
flyer  or  the  speed  of  the  flyer  exceed  the  surface  speed  of 
the  bobbin,  the  excess  speed  of  one  part  over  the  other  in 
either  case  being  sufficient  to  take  up  the  roving  delivered 
by  the  delivery  rolls.  Although  these  are  the  four  main 
principles,  several  minor  mechanical  problems  present  them- 
selves in  the  construction  and  operation  of  fly  frames  and 
are  solved  by  the  adoption  of  other  mechanical  principles, 
as  will  be  observed  later. 

As  previously  mentioned,  slubbers,  first  and  second  inter- 
mediates, and  roving  frames  differ  very  slightly  in  construc- 
tion, the  principal  point  that  would  be  noticed  by  a  person 
looking  at  the  different  machines  being  in  the  manner  of 
feeding.  With  the  slubber,  the  cans  from  the  drawing 
frames  are  placed  directly  behind  the  machine  and  the  sliver 
fed  from  the  cans,  while  with  the  fly  frames  that  follow  the 
slubber,  creels  are  provided  in  which  to  set  the  bobbins  of 
roving,  which  is  the  form  in  which  the  cotton  is  delivered 
by  all  of  these  machines. 


FLY  FRAMES  §24 


THE   SLUBBER 


PASSAGE    OF    THE    STOCK 

3.  As  the  slubbei*  may  be  considered  the  simplest  form 
of  fly  frame,  and  as  it  is  the  first  machine  in  the  series,  it 
will  be  referred  to  in  giving  a  general  description  of  the  con- 
struction of  these  machines.  Fig.  1  shows  a  front  view  of  a 
portion  of  a  slubber,  while  Fig.  2  gives  a  view  of  the  back 
of  the  same  machine;  Fig.  3  is  a  cross-section  through  the 
essential  parts  of  the  machine.  Referring  to  Fig.  3,  the 
cans  a  that  come  from  the  finisher  drawing  frame  are  placed 
behind  the  slubber  and  the  sliver  b  passed  to  the  guide 
board  c.  In  the  slubber,  which  in  this  respect  is  unlike  any 
of  the  other  fly  frames,  no  doubling  takes  place,  each  end 
of  sliver  being  treated  individually.  From  the  guide  board  c, 
the  sliver  passes  over  the  lifter  roll  d,  through  the  traverse 
guide  e,  and  then  through  three  sets  of  rolls  /a, /,,/,,  which 
insert  the  necessary  draft.  From  the  drawing  rolls,  the 
sliver  passes  through  the  upper  part  of  the  flyer  g-  and  then 
out  at  its  lower  part,  where  it  is  wound  around  an  arm  sup- 
ported by  the  flyer.  From  this  arm,  the  cotton,  which  having 
been  reduced  in  size  by  the  drawing  rolls  of  the  slubber  is 
now  known  as  roving,  passes  to  the  bobbin  //,  on  which  it  is 
compactly  wound.  The  flyer  g  is  supported,  by  the  spindle  /, 
while  the  bobbin  h  rests  on  a  flange  that  forms  the  upper 
part  of  the  gear  //,.  The  gear  //,  is  known  as  the  bobbin 
gear  and  revolves  loosely  on  the  bolster  k,  Fig.  9.  In  Fig.  3, 
two  ends  are  shown  at  the  front,  although  for  convenience 
only  one  sliver  is  shown  at  the  back.  Each  end  shown  at  the 
front  is  produced  from  a  separate  sliver  fed  behind  the  frame. 


PRINCIPAI^    PARTS 

4.  The  guide  board  c  through  which  the  sliver  passes  as  it 
comes  from  the  can  is  simply  a  long  board  with  guide  holes 
cut  in  it  at  suitable  intervals,  to  prevent  one  sliver  from 
coming  in  contact  with  another.     The  lifter  roll  d  extends 


224 


'  o     o    o    o    o 

o    o 


i 


§24  FLY  FRAMES  5 

the  entire  length  of  the  frame.  At  one  end  it  carries  a 
sprocket  gear  driven  by  a  chain  that  derives  its  motion  from 
a  sprocket  gear  on  the  bottom  back  drawing  roll.  The  lifter 
roll  revolving  in  the  direction  in  which  the  sliver  is  moving 
serves  to  reduce  the  strain  that  would  be  brought  on  it  should 
it  be  drawn  up  by  the  action  of  the  drawing  rolls  alone. 

The  traverse  guide  e,  by  guiding  the  sliver  first  to  one 
part  of  the  drawing  rolls  and  then  to  another,  prevents  con- 
tinual wear  on  any  one  part  of  the  rolls.  As  the  objects  of 
traverse  motions  as  well  as  their  different  constructions 
have  been  dealt  with,  no  further  mention  of  them  need  be 
made  here. 

The  drawing  rolls  of  a  slubber  may  be  either  of  the  metallic 
or  of  the  common  type,  although  when  running  very  fine 
work  the  common  rolls  are  almost  universally  used.  In  the 
fly  frames  that  follow  the  slubber,  which  deal  with  the  stock 
after  it  has  been  attenuated  considerably,  common  rolls  are 
almost  wholly  adopted.  There  are  usually  three  sets  of 
drawing  rolls  in  fly  frames,  and  whether  metallic  or  com- 
mon, they  are  similar  in  construction  to  those  in  a  drawing 
frame.  Clearers  are  also  provided  for  both  top  and  bottom 
rolls,  although  it  is  frequently  the  custom  to  run  intermediate 
and  roving  frames  without  bottom  clearers. 

5.  The  Flyer. — A  view  of  the  flyer,  to  which  the  cotton 
passes  from  the  front  drawing  rolls,  is  shown  in  Fig.  4.  It 
consists  of  a  boss  g^  that  contains  a  hollow  portion  g^  into 
which  the  spindle  projects,  two  downward  projecting  arms,  or 
legs,g3,g^,  and  a  presser  g^.  The  upper  portion  of  the  boss  of 
the  flyer  is  carefully  rounded  and  smoothed  and  at  its  top  con- 
tains a  hole  that  extends  downwards  and  has  an  opening  g^ 
on  each  side.  The  projecting  leg  g^  is  solid  and  serves 
simply  as  a  balance  for  the  other  leg  ^4.  The  leg  g^  is 
hollow  and  carries  two  lugs,  or  projections,  ^7,  .^r  that  act  as 
bearings  for  the  presser.  The  presser,  or  as  it  is  sometimes 
called,  the  presser  {inger,  is,  as  shown  in  the  figure,  a  round 
rod  hooked  at  its  upper  end  and  bent  to  a  right  angle  at  its 
lower   end.     The   hollow  leg  g^  is    slightly  tapered  at  its 


FLY  FRAMES 


§24 


lower  end,  and  the  presser  is  so  shaped  at  this  point  that  it 
forms  a  circular  clamp  through  which  the  lower  end  of  the 
leg  g*  is  passed.  The  inner  part  of  the  presser  is  flattened 
out  into  a  palm,  or  paddle,  g^  and  is  formed  with  a  guide  eye. 
The  horizontal  part  of  the  presser  is  of  such  a  length  that  the 
guide  eye  in  the  palm  always  comes  about  opposite  the  cen- 
ter of  the  bobbin  when  the  bobbin  is  empty.     The  roving  in 


Fig.  4 


coming  from  the  delivery  rolls  passes  into  the  hole  at  the 
top  of  the  boss  of  the  flyer  and  out  through  the  opening  at  the 
point  ge,  as  shown  in  Fig.  4.  It  is  then  wound  partly  around 
the  boss,  passes  down  the  hollow  leg  g^,  and  is  wrapped 
around  the  horizontal  part  of  the  presser  once  or  twice. 
It  then  passes  through  the  guide  eye  in  the  palm  to  the 
bobbin,  on  which  it  is  wound.     Wrapping  the  roving  twice 


§24  FLY  FRAMES  7 

around  the  horizontal  arm  of  the  presser  is  the  more  com- 
mon practice,  although  when  flyers  are  new  and  compara- 
tively rough  once  around  will  be  found  to  be  sufficient.  If 
the  leg  gt  of  the  flyer  were  made  perfectly  tubular,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  thread  the  roving  through  it  in  case  of  break- 
age. Therefore,  the  hollow  leg  is  not  completely  closed,  but 
an  opening  remains  from  top  to  bottom,  shown  slightly 
curved  in  Fig.  4,  through  which  the  end  of  roving  may  be 
passed.  As  this  slot  is  curved  it  prevents  the  roving  flying 
out  when  the  flyer  is  revolving  at  a  high  speed.  Sometimes, 
especially  for  coarse  work  or  machines  that  are  not  intended 
to  run  at  a  high  speed,  the  slot  is  straight. 

The  flyers  are  carefully  constructed  of  such  a  quality  of 
material  as  will  take  and  maintain  a  high  polish,  as  it  is 
necessary  that  all  the  parts  of  the  flyer  with  which  the  cotton 
comes  in  contact  shall  be  perfectly  smooth.  Otherwise, 
there  is  a  tendency  to  develop  undesirable  friction  as  the 
roving  passes  through  the  eye  and  down  the  leg  of  the  flyer, 
and  in  some  cases  small  lumps  of  cotton  are  thus  formed, 
which  pass  forwards  at  intervals,  deteriorating  the  quality  of 
the  yarn. 

Certain  parts  of  the  flyer  have  an  important  bearing  on  the 
hardness  or  softness  of  the  bobbin  that  is  made.  By  this  is 
not  meant  the  hardness  or  softness  of  the  roving  itself, 
which  is  determined  by  the  amount  of  twist  inserted,  but  the 
feel  of  the  completed  bobbin.  If  the  roving  were  wound  on 
the  bobbin  without  the  application  of  any  pressure,  the  result 
would  be  a  soft,  loosely  wound  mass  of  material.  To  pre- 
vent this  the  flyer  is  so  constructed  that  the  palm  g^  exerts  a 
slight  continuous  pressure  on  the  bobbin  as  the  roving  is 
being  wound  thereon.  This  is  done  by  making  the  vertical 
rod  of  the  presser  sufficiently  heavy  to  tend  to  fly  outwards 
as  the  flyer  revolves,  which  it  does  at  a  high  speed.  The 
result  of  this  is  to  throw  the  palm  g^  inwards,  since  tlie 
vertical  rod  is  capable  of  swinging  partially  around  the 
leg  g*.  There  is  some  tendency  also  for  the  palm  itself  to 
fly  outwards  due  to  centrifugal  force,  but  the  excess  weight 
of  the  vertical  rod  and  its  greater  distance  from  the  spindle 


8  FLY  FRAMES  §24 

I  are  sufficient  to  overcome  the  centrifugal  force  of  the 
palm  g^  and  bring  a  slight  pressure  constantly  to  bear 
on  the  bobbin. 

By  altering  the  relative  weights  of  the  vertical  rod 
and  the  palm,  almost  any  degree  of  firmness  of  the 
full  bobbin  can  be  obtained,  but  this  is  a  point  for  the 
machine  builder  to  experiment  with  and  decide  on  before 
building  the  frame,  and  should  not  be  changed  after  the 
machines  are  installed  in  the  mill  unless  so  advised  by 
the  builders. 

Bobbins  can  be  made  harder  by  inserting  more  twist 
in  the  roving,  as  well  as  by  increasing  the  pressure  of 
the  palm  on  the  bobbin. 

6.  Tlie  Spindle. — The  spindle,  as  shown  in  Figs.  3 
and  5,  is  a  long  steel  rod.  Its  upper  end,  which  is 
tapered,  extends  into  the  hollow  part  g^,  Fig.  4,  of  the 
3  flyer,  where  it  comes  in  contact  with  a  wire  pin  that  is 
fitted  into  holes  bored  in  the  sides  of  the  flyer.  This 
pin  fits  into  the  slot  in  the  upper  end  of  the  spindle  and 
in  this  way  the  two  parts  are  made  to  act  as  one.  At 
its  lower  end  the  spindle  is  slightly  reduced  in  diameter, 
and  at  its  extreme  end  tapers  to  a  point.  This  end  of 
the  spindle  rests  in  a  footstep,  which  is  generally  a 
recess  in  a  bracket,  except  on  English  types  of  frames, 
where  it  is  a  removable  piece  of  metal. 

Spindles  are  made  of  hardened  steel  and  ground  to 
exact  dimensions.  They  vary  from  f  inch  to  \  inch  in 
diameter  according  to  the  frames  for  which  they  are 
intended,  being  of  smaller  diameter  and  shorter  on 
roving  frames  and  of  greater  diameter  and  longer  on 
slubbers.  The  spindles  in  all  fly  frames  are  arranged 
in  two  rows,  one  behind  the  other.  The  spindles  in 
the  back  row  do  not  come  directly  behind  those  in  the 
front  row,  but  are  generally  set  in  such  a  manner  that  a 
spindle  in  the  back  row  will  come  half  way  between  two 

tof  the  spindles  in  the  front  row,  as  shown  in  Fig.  6;  this 
figure  gives  a  view  of  five  spindles,  flyers,  and  bobbins 

Fig.  5 


24 


FLY  FRAMES 


9 


as  they  would  appear  when  looked  at  from  above.  It  is 
customary  to  describe  the  gauge  of  the  spindles,  that  is,  the 
distance  from  the  center  of  one  spindle  to  the  center  of 
the  next  spindle  in  the  same  row,  as  so  many  inches;  for 
instance,  6  inches,  etc.  Another  method  is  to  state  the 
number  of  spindles  in  a  certain  number  of  inches;  for 
instance,  if  the  distance  from  the  center  of  one  spindle  to 
the  center  of  the  next  spindle  in  the  same  row  is  6  inches, 
then  the  frame  is  spoken  of  as  having  6  spindles  in  18  inches, 
there  being  two  rows  of  spindles  and  the   spindles  in  each 


Fig.  6 


row  being  spaced  alike.  The  total  number  of  spindles  in  a 
frame  varies  and  is  dependent  on  the  gauge  of  the  spindles 
and  the  length  of  the  frame.  Fly  frames  as  a  rule  do  not 
often  exceed  36  feet  in  length,  and  are  seldom  built  less  than 
20  feet  in  length. 

7.  The  Footstep. — The  footstep  bearing,  or  foot- 
step, y»  in  which  the  base  of  the  spindle  rests  is  shown  in 
Figs.  3  and  7.  These  steps  are  bolted  to  the  step  rail  /, 
that  extends  the  entire  length  of  the  frame,  very  near  the 
floor;  a  cross-section  of  the  step  rail  is  shown  in  Fig.  8.     It 


10 


FLY  FRAMES 


§24 


will  be  noticed  that  both  sides  of  the  rail  are  made  alike 
and  will  thus  allow  the  footsteps  to  be  placed  on  each  side; 
the  two  rows  of  spindles  necessitate  this  arrangement.  At 
frequent  intervals  along  the  step  rail  are  set  footsteps  that 
carry  a  bearing  for  the  spindle  shafts  p.  The  two  spindle 
shafts,  one  for  each  row  of  spindles,  carry  gears  p^  that 
drive  gears  y,  setscrewed  to  the  spindles,  and  thus  give 
the  spindles  their  motion.  The  spindle  shafts,  spindle 
steps,   step   rails,  and   the    gears   both  on  the   spindles  and 


Fig."? 


Fig.  8 


on  the  spindle  shafts  are  completely  enclosed  in  order  to 
prevent  any  dirt  or  loose  cotton  from  collecting  on  the 
various  parts. 

8.  Tlie  Bolster. — As  the  spindles  are  of  considerable 
length,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  some  bearing  be  pro- 
vided for  them  in  addition  to  the  support  formed  by  the  step, 
in  order  to  support  them  in  a  vertical  position,  and  so  that 
they  may  run  true.  This  is  accomplished  by  having  a 
bolster,  shown  in  Fig.  9,  through  which  the  upper  part  of 
the  spindle  projects.  The  bolster  consists  of  a  collar  k, 
through  which  the  spindle  passes,  the  upper  part  being  bored 
to  such  a  diameter  as  will  just  fit  the  outside  diameter  of  the 
spindle.  At  the  lower  part  of  the  bolster  is  a  shoulder  k^, 
that  fits  a  recess  in  the  bolster  rail,  to  which  it  is  firmly 
bolted.  The  bolster  rail,  a  cross-section  of  which  is  shown 
in  Fig.  10,  is  made  alike  on  both  sides,  in  order  to  provide 
for  bolsters  for  each  row  of  spindles. 


§24 


FLY  FRAMES 


11 


At  one  time,  the  collars  used  to  support  the  spindles  verti- 
cally were  rather  short,  not  projecting  much  above  the  bolster 
rail,  but  it  is  now  the  universal  custom  to  use  long  collars, 
such  as  that  shown  in  Fig.  9.  The  advantage  of  the  short 
collar  was  in  being  able  to  use  a 
bobbin  of  less  outside  diameter  and 
thus  have  more  stock  wound  on  it,  as 
the  shortness  and  small  diameter  of  the 
collar  did  not  require  as  great  an  open- 
ing, or  hole,  in  the  bobbin;  consequently, 
allowing  the  outside  diameter  of  the 
bobbin  to  be  less  in  proportion.  The 
disadvantage  of  the  use  of  the  short 
collar  was  due  to  the  fact  of  its  support- 
ing the  spindle  at  a  point  a  consider- 
able distance  from  its  upper  end,  even 
when  the  bobbin  rail  was  at  its  highest 
position.  As  the  bobbin  rail  moved 
downwards  this  defect  was  accentuated, 


Fig.  9 


Fig.  10 


and  since  the  spindle  and  flyer  ran  at  high  speed  and  had  no 
support  at  any  point  in  the  upper  half  of  the  length  of  the 
spindle,  this  tended  to  develop  vibration  and  wear.  In  using 
such  a  collar  as  is  shown  in  Fig.  9,  the  bearing  part  that  sup- 
ports the   spindles  is  placed  a  considerable  distance  above 


12 


FLY  FRAMES 


24 


the  bolster  rail  and  several  inches  nearer  the  top  of  the 
spindle,  which  is  conducive  to  steady  running  of  the  spindles. 
The  spindle  has  a  bearing  only  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
collar,  for  about  2  inches,  the  lower  part  being  bored  out  to 
a  larger  diameter  than  that  of  the  spindle.  This 
method  of  construction  reduces  the  amount  of 
friction  that  would  take  place  should  the  spindle 
bear  against  the  entire  length  of  the  collar. 

9.  The  Bobbin. — Fig.  11  shows  a  cross- 
section  of  a  long-collar  bobbin  used  on  fly 
frames.  Such  bobbins  are  usually  constructed 
of  wood,  although  sometimes  made  of  paper  or 
corrugated  metal.  The  cheapest  bobbins  are 
those  made  of  plain  wood  without  any  protec- 
tion whatever,  but  it  has  been  found  an  advan- 
tage to  have  the  lower  end  of  the  bobbins 
protected  by  a  wire  placed  in  a  groove,  or  even 
by  a  metal  shield  surrounding  the  base  of  the 
bobbin  and  partially  embedded  in  it.  The 
cost   of    a  bobbin   constructed   in   this   manner 


(TTll 

, ( 

^K 

\ 

i       h, 

^^ 

mi 

). !, 

f 

Fig.  11 


Fig.  l:^ 


is  higher,  but  breakage  and  wear  and  tear  of  the  bobbin 
are  very  much  less. 

When  the  bobbin  is  in  position  on  the  frame,  the  smaller 
hole  at  the  top  of  the  bobbin  receives  the  spindle  and  the 
larger  opening  encloses  the  collar,  which  is  thus  entirely 
covered  by  the  bobbin. 


14 


FLY  FRAMES 


24 


The  bobbin  gear,  shown  in  Fig.  12,  rests  on  a  projection  X-,, 
Figs.  3  and  9,  carried  by  the  bolster.  It  is  not  fastened  in 
any  manner  to  the  bolster  and  is  thus  free  to  revolve  loosely 
around  the  long  collar  that  furnishes  a  bearing  for  the 
spindle.  Motion  is  imparted  to  the  bobbin  gear  Zfi  by  means 
of  a  gear  h^  setscrewed  to  the  bobbin  shaft  /;.,  which  is 
supported  by  bearings  fastened  to  certain  of  the  bolsters. 
As  shown  in  Fig.  12,  the  bobbin  gear  carries  a  flange  /  on 
which  the  bobbin  rests.  A  projection  l^  on  this  flange 
extends  into  one  of  several  slots  in  the  base  of  the  bobbin, 
and  thus  drives  the  bobbin.  In  case 
long  collars  are  used  on  bolsters,  the 
collar  extends  for  some  distance  into 
the  bobbin,  and  it  is  very  essential  that 
the  bobbins  on  any  fly  frame  should  be 
well  constructed  to  exact  dimensions,  so 
as  to  grip  the  bobbin  gear  well  and  fit 
the  spindle  and  collar  as  closely  as  pos- 
sible without  binding.  Bobbin  gauges 
are  now  made  by  several  manufacturers 
of  fly  frames  to  test  accurately  the 
inside  and  outside  diameters  of  a  bob- 
bin, and  it  is  advisable  to  have  a  set  of 
these  gauges  with  which  to  test  new 
bobbins  before  they  are  run. 

The  bobbin  gears,  the  gears  on  the 
bobbin  shafts,  the  bobbin  shafts,  the  bob- 
bin rail,  and  the  lower  ends  of  the  bol- 
sters are  completely  enclosed,  in  order  to  prevent  as  far 
as  possible  any  fly  or  dirt  from  collecting  on  the  various 
parts.  Fig.  13  shows  the  connection  between  those  parts  of 
a  fly  frame  that  have  been  described,  such  as  the  footstep, 
spindle,  bolster,  bobbin  rail,  step  rail,  flyer,  etc.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  two  rows  of  spindles  are  shown,  many  of  the 
parts  in  one  row  being  shown  in  section,  while  the  parts  in 
the  other  row  are  shown  in  full.  By  comparing  this  figure 
with  those  that  show  the  different  parts  separate,  a  good 
idea  will  be  obtained  of  the  relative  position  of   each  part. 


/       l\ 

N % 

LZJiZ] 

Fig.  14 


§24 


FLY  FRAMES 


15 


The  manner  in  which  the  roving  is  built  up  on  the  bobbin 
is  shown  in  Fig.  14.  It  is  wound  in  close  spirals  around  the 
empty  bobbin  until  the  entire  length  of  the  bobbin,  with 
the  exception  of  about  i  inch  at  the  top  and  1  inch  at  the 
bottom,  is  covered;  the  complete  length  of  roving  that 
extends  from  the  bottom  to  the  top  of  the  bobbin  is  known 
as  a  layer.  It  is  the  object  to  build  up  the  bobbin  with 
cone-shaped  ends,  as  shown  in  Fig.  14;  consequently,  each 
succeeding  layer  on  the  bobbin  must  be  a  little  shorter  than 
the  preceding  one,  this  being  continued  until  the  distance  a  b, 
Fig.  14,  is  reduced  to  the  distance  c  d. 


Fig.  15 

10.  Hank  Clocks. — Fig.  15  shows  an  instrument  known 
as  a  hank  clock,  which  is  attached  to  all  fly  frames.  The 
object  of  the  clock  is  to  register  the  number  of  hanks  of 
roving  that  pass  the  delivery  rolls.  This  clock  is  usually 
situated  at  the  foot  end  of  the  frame  and  has  attached  to  it  a 
worm-gear  that  is  driven  by  a  worm  situated  on  the  end  of 
the  front  roll.  By  considering  the  diameter  of  the  front  roll 
and  by  having  a  suitable  number  of  teeth  in  the  worm-gear 
and  the  gears  forming  the  clock,  the  exact  length  that  passes 
the  delivery  rolls  will  be  indicated  on  the  hank  clock,  the 


16  FLY  FRAMES  §24 

length,  however,  being  expressed  in  hanks.  This  clock  is 
read  on  the  same  principle  as  most  clocks  or  indicators. 
The  short  hand  indicates  the  number  of  hanks,  while  the  long 
one  indicates  the  fractions  of  a  hank  in  one-hundredth  parts. 


METHOD    OF    INSERTING    TWIST 

11.  It  is  necessary  to  insert  a  small  number  of  turns 
per  inch  in  the  roving  after  it  leaves  the  front  drawing  rolls, 
in  order  to  enable  the  fibers  to  hold  together  and  withstand 
the  strain  of  being  wound  on  the  bobbin  and  unwound  at  the 
next  process.  In  common  with  all  cotton-yarn-preparation 
machines  where  twist  is  inserted  in  a  strand  of  material,  the 
strand  is  held  at  one  point  while  it  is  revolved  at  another. 
Strictly  speaking,  the  strand  is  also  held  at  this  point,  but 
by  a  revolving  mechanism.  In  fly  frames,  the  roving  is 
gripped  between  the  bottom  and  top  front  rolls  as  it  is  being 
delivered,  and  is  also  held  by  the  bobbin  on  which  it  is 
being  wound,  although  as  the  roving  passes  through  the 
hole  in  the  boss  of  the  flyer  and  down  the  hollow  leg,  the  top 
of  the  boss  of  the  flyer  practically  forms  the  termination  of 
the  grip  of  the  roving  at  this  point.  Consequently,  the 
roving  may  be  considered  as  being  firmly  held  here,  and 
since  the  spindle  and  flyer  are  making  from  600  to  1,400 
revolutions  per  minute,  the  roving  is  being  twisted  all 
the  time. 

The  rolls  of  course  are  constantly  delivering  roving  and 
the  bobbins  taking  it  up  as  fast  as  it  is  delivered,  so  that 
while  the  roving  that  is  being  twisted  at  any  one  time  is 
in  a  suitable  position  to  receive  the  twist,  a  new  supply 
is  constantly  being  brought  under  the  twisting  operation,  at 
a  regular  and  uniform  rate  of  speed,  and  that  portion 
already  twisted  is  passing  from  the  influence  of  the  twisting 
mechanism  and  on  to  the  bobbin.  In  ascertaining  the 
amount  of  twist  per  inch  inserted  in  the  roving,  it  is  there- 
fore necessary  to  obtain  data  as  to  the  number  of  inches  of 
roving  delivered  by  the  rolls  during  a  certain  period,  and  the 
number  of  turns  made  by  the  spindle  during  the  same  period. 


§24  FLY  FRAMES  17 

If,  for  example,  the  flyer  makes  25  revolutions  while  the  rolls 
deliver  12^-  inches  of  roving,  then  there  will  be  25  -^  122  =  2 
complete  turns  put  into  an  inch  of  the  roving  delivered. 


WINDING    THE    ROVING    ON    THE     BOBBIN 

12.  The  front  rolls  of  a  fly  frame  rotate  at  a  constant 
rate  of  speed  while  the  machine  is  in  motion;  hence,  a 
uniform  length  of  roving  is  being  constantly  delivered. 
Suitable  means  must  be  provided  for  winding  this  roving  on 
to  the  bobbin  as  fast  as  it  is  delivered,  but  at  the  same  time 
the  mechanism  for  winding  must  be  such  that  the  roving 
will  not  be  broken  or  strained.  As  shown  in  Fig.  13,  the 
flyer  is  supported  by  the  spindle,  which  also  imparts  a  rotary 
motion  to  it,  while  the  bobbin,  although  placed  on  the 
spindle  and  rotating  on  the  same  center  as  the  flyer,  is 
driven  by  an  entirely  separate  mechanism.  The  roving  is 
wrapped  around  the  bobbin  because  of  the  difference  in 
the  velocity  of  the  bobbin  and  the  flyer  eye,  since  if  both 
revolved  in  the  same  direction  and  at  the  same  speed  the 
roving  could  not  be  drawn  through  the  eye  of  the  flyer  and 
wound  around  the  bobbin.  In  considering  the  action  of  the 
flyer  and  bobbin  in  winding  the  roving  about  the  latter,  it 
will  be  found  that  there  are  several  possible  methods  by 
which  this  may  be  accomplished. 

1.  A  uniform  rotary  motion  may  be  imparted  to  the  flyer 
alone,  the  bobbin  remaining  stationary.  This  method,  how- 
ever, is  not  practicable,  because  as  the  roving  is  wound 
around  the  bobbin  the  diameter  of  the  latter  increases,  and 
therefore  a  greater  length  of  roving  will  be  required  for 
each  successive  revolution  of  the  flyer;  hence,  if  a  uniform 
amount  of  roving  is  delivered  by  the  drawing  rolls  the 
strain  on  it  will  quickly  increase  until  sufficient  to  cause  it  to 
break.  This  difficulty  might  be  remedied  by  uniformly 
decreasing  the  speed  of  the  flyer  as  the  diameter  of  the 
bobbin  increases,  but  as  the  speed  of  the  flyer  governs 
the  amount  of  twist  in  the  roving,  a  variation  in  the  turns 
per  inch  would  ensue  in  this  case. 


18 


FLY  FRAMES 


§24 


2.  A  rotary  motion  may  be  given  to  both  the  flyer  and 
the  bobbin,  the  speed  of  the  flyer  being  just  sufficiently  in 
excess  of  that  of  the  bobbin  to  wind  the  roving  on  to  the 
latter  as  fast  as  it  is  deHvered  by  the  drawing  rolls  of  the 
frame.     Since  in  this  case  the  flyer  is  moving  faster  than 


DO" 

Fig.  16 


TO 


Fig.  17 


the  bobbin,  or  leading  it,  the  arrangement  is  known  as  a 
flyer  lead,  and  a  frame  thus  equipped  is  called  a  flyer-lead 
frame.  Fig.  16  illustrates  the  relative  positions  of  the  flyer, 
bobbin,  and  roving  in  a  flyer-lead  frame.    In  considering  the 


§24  ,  FLY  FRAMES  19 

operation  of  this  arrangement  it  will  be  remembered  that  in 
a  given  length  of  time  the  front  drawing  rolls  of  the  frame 
deliver  a  definite  length  of  roving.  Assume,  for  the  purpose 
of  illustration,  that  this  definite  length  is  6  inches.  Then,  in 
order  to  wind  this  length  of  roving  on  to  the  bobbin  in  a 
flyer-lead  frame,  the  eye  of  the  presser  on  the  flyer  must 
move  just  6  inches  farther  than  a  point  on  the  surface  of  the 
bobbin  during  the  length  of  time  that  it  takes  for  the  draw- 
ing rolls  to  deliver  6  inches  of  roving.  This  gain,  or  lead, 
of  the  flyer  over  the  bobbin  is  independent  of  the  actual 
velocities  of  the  flyer  and  bobbin,  both  of  which  are  of 
course  rapidly  rotating  in  the  same  direction.  Flyer-lead 
frames  were  formerly  very  popular,  but  are  not  used  to  a 
great  extent  at  the  present  time. 

3.  There  is  another  method  of  winding  the  roving  on 
to  the  bobbin  in  which  the  bobbin  rotates  at  a  speed  just 
sufficiently  in  excess  of  that  of  the  flyer  to  cause  it  to 
wind  on  the  roving  as  fast  as  it  is  delivered  by  the  draw- 
ing rolls.  This  is  the  arrangement  that  is  almost  always 
adopted  on  modern  fly  frames,  and  since  in  this  case  the 
bobbin  rotates  faster,  or  leads  the  flyer,  it  is  known  as  the 
bobbin-lead  viethod,  fly  frames  thus  equipped  being  known 
as  bobbin-lead  {tames.  Fig.  17  shows  the  position  assumed 
by  the  bobbin,  flyer,  and  roving  in  a  bobbin-lead  fly  frame. 
The  front  rolls  always  deliver  a  uniform  length  of  roving 
in  any  given  length  of  time,  and  for  the  purpose  of  illus- 
tration it  may  also  be  assumed  in  this  case  that  the  length 
delivered  in  a  given  period  of  time  is  6  inches.  Then,  in 
order  to  wind  this  length  of  roving  on  to  the  bobbin  in 
a  bobbin-lead  frame,  a  point  on  the  surface  of  the  bobbin 
must  move  just  6  inches  farther  than  the  eye  of  the  flyer 
presser  during  the  length  of  time  that  it  takes  for  the  draw- 
ing rolls  to  deliver  6  inches  of  roving.  This  gain,  or 
lead,  of  the  bobbin  over  the  flyer  is  independent  of  the 
actual  velocities  of  the  bobbin  and  flyer,  both  of  which  are 
of  course  rotating  rapidly  in  the  same  direction,  as  was  the 
case  in  the  flyer-lead  frame,  only  in  this  case  the  bobbin  has 
the  greater  speed.  * 


20  FLY  FRAMES  §24 

13.  In  both  flyer-lead  and  bobbin-lead  fly  frames,  the 
speed  of  the  delivery  of  the  roving  and  the  speed  of  the 
flyers  are  constant.  This  is  necessary,  because  if  the  speed 
of  the  drawing  rolls  were  made  variable  the  production  of 
the  frame  would  be  altered,  and  also  because,  in  order  to 
produce  an  even  roving,  the  sliver  should  be  drawn  at  a 
regular  and  uniform  speed.  A  variable  speed  of  the  flyers  is 
impracticable,  because  this  would  produce  a  variation  in  the 
amount  of  twist  in  the  roving.  In  order,  therefore,  to  com- 
pensate for  the  constantly  increasing  diameter  of  the  bobbin, 
a  variation  must  be  made  in  its  speed,  so  that  the  tension  on 
the  roving  during  the  winding  will  be  the  same  whether  the 
bobbin  is  empty  or  full.  If  the  bobbin  did  not  increase  in 
diameter  as  it  filled  with  roving,  the  speeds  of  the  flyer  and 
bobbin  could  be  easily  regulated  so  that  the  exact  amount  of 
roving  delivered  would  be  taken  up.  The  conditions  are 
more  difficult  than  this,  however,  because  one  revolution  of 
a  full  bobbin  requires  a  much  greater  length  of  roving  to 
make  one  turn  around  the  bobbin  than  does  one  revolution 
of  an  empty  bobbin;  in  other  words,  the  circumferential  speed 
of  the  bobbin  must  be  the  same,  no  matter  what  its  diameter 
is,  whether  full,  empty,  or  in  any  intermediate  condition. 
For  example,  suppose  that  the  diameter  of  an  empty  bobbin 
is  2  inches  and  of  a  full  one  4  inches;  then  in  the  first  case 
only  2  X  3.1416  =  6.2832  inches  of  roving  will  be  required 
to  make  one  turn  around  the  bobbin,  while  in  the  latter  case 
4  X  3.1416  =  12.5664  inches  will  be  required  to  accomplish 
the  same  result.  Thus,  as  the  length  of  roving  delivered  is 
a  constant  quantity,  and  as  the  difference  in  the  circumferen- 
tial speed  of  the  bobbin  and  of  the  flyer  must  also  be  constant, 
the  speed  of  the  bobbin  must  be  constantly  varied  as  the 
winding  progresses. 

In  a  flyer-lead  frame,  since  the  flyer  rotates  at  a  speed 
greater  than  that  of  the  bobbin,  the  latter  must  have  its 
slowest  speed  when  empty  and  its  greatest  speed  when 
filled,  and  must  constantly  and  uniformly  increase  in  the 
number  of  revolutions  per  minute  between  these  two 
extremes.     This  is   the    principal  objection  to   a  flyer-lead 


§24  FLY  FRAMES  21 

frame — the  larger  and  heavier  the  bobbins  become,  the 
faster  they  must  be  driven,  hence  the  greater  the  amount 
of  power  required  to  drive  the  machine. 

In  a  bobbin-lead  frame,  however,  since  the  speed  of  the 
bobbin  is  greater  than  that  of  the  flyer  the  bobbin  must 
rotate  at  its  greatest  speed  when  empty  and  at  its  slowest 
speed  when  full,  and  must  constantly  and  uniformly  decrease 
in  the  number  of  revolutions  per  minute  between  these  two 
points.  For  this  reason  the  bobbin-lead  frame  is  preferred 
to  the  flyer-lead,  since  in  this  case  as  the  bobbins  grow 
large  and  heavy,  it  is  not  necessary  to  drive  them  so  fast,  and 
the  consumption  of  power  is  therefore  more  uniform. 

Although  the  mechanism  for  producing  this  variable  speed 
of  the  bobbins  is  described  later,  it  will  be  of  advantage  to 
note  that  with  the  introduction  of  cones  it  is  possible,  by 
making  use  of  suitable  gearing,  to  alter  the  speed  of  the 
bobbins. 

14.  Traverse  of  Bobbins. — It  will  be  remembered 
that  the  lower  end  of  the  bolsters,  the  bolster  rail,  the  bobbin 
shafts,  and  the  toothed  portion  of  the  bobbin  gears  are  com- 
pletely enclosed.  These  parts  combined  form  what  is  known 
as  the  carriage,  which  is  given  a  vertical  reciprocating 
motion  in  order  to  give  the  necessary  traverse  to  the  bobbins. 
As  the  bobbins  are  placed  over  the  bolsters  and  rest  on  the 
bobbin  gears,  which  form  a  part  of  the  carriage,  they  receive 
a  vertical  reciprocating  motion  in  addition  to  their  rotary 
axial  motion  received  from  the  bobbin  gears.  As  the  flyer 
eye  continues  to  revolve  in  one  plane  during  this  traverse  of 
the  bobbin,  the  spindle  rail  being  stationary,  the  roving  is 
wound  on  the  bobbin  in  coils,  which  vary  in  pitch  according 
to  the  velocity  of  the  vertical  movement  of  the  bobbin. 

Fig.  3  illustrates  one  method  of  imparting  the  vertical 
motion  to  the  carriage.  The  legs  r  support  the  various  parts 
of  the  frame,  their  number  varying  according  to  the  length  of 
the  frame.  These  legs  are  known  as  sampsons,  and  have  on 
one  face  a  groove  in  which  a  portion  of  a  rack  r,  slides.  As 
the  rack  r,  has  an  up-and-down  motion,  the  groove  in  the 


22  FLY  FRAMES  §24 

Sampson  serves  to  steady  and  guide  it  in  order  that  it  may 
mesh  properly  with  the  gear  r^  setscrewed  to  the  shaft  ^3, 
which  extends  the  entire  length  of  the  frame.  The  racks 
are  connected  to  the  carriage  by  means  of  arms  r*  securely 
bolted  to  the  bolster  rail  s.  As  the  gear  f\  revolves  first  in 
one  direction  and  then  in  the  other,  the  carriage  is  given  a 
vertical  reciprocating  motion  for  a  certain  distance,  which  is 
regulated  by  the  period  of  rotation  of  the  gear  i\  in  either 
direction.  In  addition  to  'the  steadying  of  the  carriage  by 
the  racks,  there  is  a  slide  connection  between  the  head  and 
foot  Sampsons  and  the  corresponding  ends  of  the  bolster  rail 
that  helps  to  steady  and  guide  it,  and  if  properly  adjusted 
insures  a  free  and  perfect  motion  of  the  carriage.  As  the 
carriage  has  considerable  weight,  it  is  balanced  by  suitable 
mechanism,  the  usual  method  being  to  hang  weights  by 
means  of  chains  at  each  sampson.  Referring  to  Fig.  3,  the 
weight  t  is  supported  by  means  of  a  chain  /,  attached  to  a 
bracket,  the  chain  passing  around  a  pulley  r\  attached  to  the 
rack  r,  and  also  over  pulleys  /a,  t^  attached  to  the  sampson; 
the  weight  is  arranged  to  balance  the  rail  when  the  bobbins 
are  half  full. 

Another  method  of  balancing  the  carriage  is  shown  in 
Fig.  18.  Weights  t  are  suspended  from  a  chain  /,  that 
passes  around  pulleys  t^,  t^  and  is  attached  to  a  drum  r^ 
on  the  shaft  re,  which  carries  a  gear  meshing  with  teeth  in 
the  lever  r^.  The  forward  end  of  this  lever  bears  directly 
against  the  under  side  of  a  small  pulley  carried  by  a  bracket  5, 
that  is  attached  to  the  bolster  rail  s.  This  method  prevents 
any  possibility  of  the  racks  binding  in  the  slides,  which  some- 
times happens  with  the  other  method,  unless  a  great  deal  of 
care  is  taken  with  the  racks  and  slides. 

The  latest  method  of  overcoming  the  weight  of  the  car- 
riage and  bobbins  is  by  means  of  a  self-balanced  carriage. 
With  this  motion  the  carriage  is  divided  at  the  center  of  its 
length  into  two  equal  parts,  and  when  one  section  is  descend- 
ing the  other  is  ascending;  consequently,  one  section  counter- 
balances the  other.  The  carriage  is  supported  and  guided 
by  means  of  racks  and  pinions,  as  shown  in  Fig.  3,  with  the 


24 


FLY  FRAMES 


23 


exception  of  the  weights.     The  racks  r.  for  one  section  of 
the  carriage  face  in  the  direction  shown  in  Fig.  3,  while  the 


Fig. 18 


racks  for  the  other  section  face  in  the  opposite  direction; 
consequently,  as  the  back  shaft  r,  revolves,  one  section  of 


24  FLY  FRAMES  §24 

the  carriage  will  ascend  and  the  other  descend,  thereby  bal- 
ancing each  other. 

Since  the  carriage  is  divided  into  two  parts,  it  is  necessary 
to  use  a  second  mechanism  in  order  to  drive  the  bobbins  of 
the  second  section.  This  mechanism  is  situated  in  about 
the  center  of  the  frame  and  is  driven  from  the  first  by 
means  of  a  long  shaft  that  extends  from  the  head  of  the 
frame  to  the  second  section.  This  shaft  carries  a  gear  at 
the  head  end  that  is  driven  from  a  gear  placed  on  the 
sleeve  between  the  gears  h^,  h^,  Fig.  19.  At  the  opposite 
end  of  this  shaft  is  a  gear  that  drives  the  second  mechanism 
by  means  of  a  carrier  gear.  By  adopting  this  last  method, 
the  carriage  is  accurately  balanced  at  all  times  during  the 
building  of  the  bobbins,  while  with  the  other  motions  the 
carriage  is  only  accurately  balanced  when  the  bobbins  are 
half  full. 

The  description  of  the  method  of  reversing  the  direction  of 
motion  of  the  gear  t\,  Fig.  3,  and  the  different  mechanical 
arrangements  that  are  necessary  in  order  to  allow  the  car- 
riage to  rise  and  fall  and  still  have  the  driving  arrangement 
of  the  bobbin  shafts  intact,  will  be  given  in  detail  later. 


GEARING 

15.  Method  of  Driving  the  Dra^wing  Rolls. — Fig.  19 
gives  a  diagrammatic  view  of  the  gearing  for  a  slubber. 
The  parts  are  not  in  all  cases  shown  in  the  exact  position 
that  they  occupy  in  the  frame,  since  the  method  of  gearing 
could  not  then  be  clearly  indicated.  On  the  shaft  m,  which  is 
known  as  the  jack-shaft  and  is  the  main  driving  shaft  of  the 
frame,  are  placed  the  tight-and-loose  pulleys  Wi,  Wj,  respect- 
ively, which  are  driven  either  from  the  line  shaft  of  the  room 
or  from  a  countershaft  belted  to  the  line  shaft.  On  the  end 
of  the  jack-shaft  m  is  a  gear  w,,  known  as  the  t%vist  gear, 
which  through  the  intermediate  gear  w*  and  gear^z,  drives  the 
top  cone  shaft  n.  This  shaft  carries  at  the  head,  or  driving, 
end  a  gear  n^  that  drives  a  gear  /  on  the  bottom  front  roll  /,. 
The  method  of  driving  the  two  back  rolls  from  the  front  roll 
is  shown  in  Fig.  19. 


tnp  9T 


26  FLY  FRAMES  §24 

16.  Method  of  Driving  the  Spindles. — On  the  end  of 

the  jack-shaft  that  carries  the  tight-and-loose  pulleys  is  a 
gear  vi^  that,  through  an  intermediate,  or  carrier  gear,  w„ 
drives  a  gear  p^  that  is  on  the  spindle  shaft  p.  Gears  on 
this  shaft  similar  to  p.^  drive  the  gears  j^  that  are  setscrewed 
to  the  spindles  j.  It  will  be  remembered  that  there  are  two 
rows  of  spindles  in  all  fly  frames;  consequently,  there  must 
be  two  spindle  shafts  similar  to  p.  Only  one  shaft  is  shown 
in  Fig.  19,  as  the  two  shafts  are  placed  one  directly  behind 
the  other.  The  one  shown  is  the  back  spindle  shaft,  which 
always  receives  its  motion  direct  from  the  jack-shaft  of  the 
frame.  Gearing  with  the  gear  /,  is  a  gear  on  the  end  of  the 
front  spindle  shaft  by  which  this  shaft  receives  its  motion. 

An  important  point  to  be  noted  in  this  connection  is  that 
since  the  gear  on  one  shaft  is  driven  directly  by  a  gear  on  the 
other  shaft  without  the  use  of  any  intermediate  gear,  the  two 
spindle  shafts  must  revolve  in  opposite  directions.  If  with 
this  arrangement  the  gears  on  each  spindle  shaft  were  con- 
nected to  the  gears  on  the  spindles  that  they  drive  in  exactly 
the  same  manner,  the  two  rows  of  spindles  would  revolve  in 
opposite  directions.  In  order  to  overcome  this  difficulty  the 
gears  on  one  spindle  shaft  are  placed  on  one  side  of  the  gears 
on  the  spindles  that  they  drive,  while  the  gears  on  the  other 
spindle  shaft  are  placed  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  gears 
on  the  spindles  that  they  drive,  as  shown  in  Fig.  13. 

17.  Metliod  of  Driving  the  Bobbins. — Referring 
again  to  Fig.  19,  it  will  be  noticed  that  a  gear  m-,  is  set- 
screwed  to  the  jack-shaft.  This  gear  through  the  gears  h,,  h„ 
drives  the  gear  h^,  which  is  setscrewed  to  a  sleeve  that  is 
loose  on  the  jack-shaft.  This  sleeve  carries  another  gear  //s, 
which  through  a  carrier  gear  //»  drives  the  gear  h^,  on  the 
back  bobbin  shaft  L..  The  bobbin  shaft  carries  bevel  gears  //, 
that  drive  the  bobbin  gears  /;,.  These  bobbin  gears  are 
illustrated  in  Fig.  12  and  carry  a  flange,  a  projection  of 
which  engages  with  a  slot  in  the  bottom  of  the  bobbin  and 
thus  causes  the  bobbin  to  revolve  with  the  bobbin  gear.  A 
gear  on  the  front  bobbin  shaft  is  driven  directly  from  the 


§24  FLY  FRAMES  27 

gear  Z/,,  Fig.  19,  on  the  back  bobbin  shaft,  and  since  these 
shafts  revolve  in  opposite  directions,  it  is  necessary,  in  order 
to  have  all  the  bobbins  revolve  in  the  same  direction,  to  place 
the  gears  on  one  bobbin  shaft  on  one  side  of  the  bobbin 
gears  that  they  drive,  while  the  gears  on  the  other  bobbin 
shaft  must  be  placed  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  bobbin  gears 
that  they  drive.     This  arrangement  is  also  shown  in  Fig.  13. 


DIMENSIONS  OF  FLY  FRAMES 

18.  Fly  frames  are  spoken  of  not  only  according  to  the 
name  of  each  kind  of  frame,  but  also  by  the  number  of 
spindles,  the  length  of  the  bobbin  that  the  first  layer  of  roving 
covers  (known  as  the  traverse  of  the  bobbin),  and  the  diam- 
eter of  the  full  bobbin.  Thus,  a  frame  spoken  of  as  a 
96-spindle  9  in.  X  ^\  in.  indicates  that  the  frame  has  two 
rows  of  spindles,  48  in  each  row;  that  the  greatest  possible 
traverse  on  the  bobbin  is  9  inches  in  length;  and  that  when 
the  bobbin  is  full  it  cannot  exceed  41  inches  in  diameter. 
The  traverse  of  a  bobbin  used  on  slubbers  is  usually  from  10 
to  12  inches;  on  first  intermediates,  from  8  to  10  inches;  on 
second  intermediates,  from  7  to  8  inches;  and  on  roving 
frames,  from  5  to  6  inches.  The  reason  for  this  gradual 
reduction  in  the  traverse  of  the  bobbin  is  that  as  the  roving 
becomes  reduced  in  size  it  is  necessary  to  wind  it  on  a 
smaller  bobbin,  so  that  the  bobbin  will  not  be  too  large  to 
be  pulled  around  by  the  roving  when  placed  in  the  creel  of 
the  succeeding  machine. 

The  diameter  of  the  full  bobbin  that  can  be  made  depends 
on  the  distance  between  the  spindles,  which  is  so  arranged 
as  not  to  make  too  large  a  bobbin,  for  the  same  reason 
as  that  given  above.  In  most  cases  the  diameter  of  the  full 
bobbin  is  one-half  the  length  of  the  traverse;  for  example,  a 
12-inch  traverse  frame  makes  a  6-inch  bobbin,  usually  written 
12  X  6.  Other  sizes  are  referred  to  as  10  X  5,  9  X  4i, 
8x4,  7  X  Si,  6x3,  etc.  There  are  exceptions  to  this  rule 
in  very  fine  frames,  where  the  bobbin  is  often  made  smaller  in 
diameter,  as,  for  example,  a  6  X  22  frame.    In  this  connection 


28 


FLY  FRAMES 


24 


it  should  be  noted  that  the  diameter  of  a  full  bobbin  made 
on  a  fly  frame  is  not  equal  to  the  space  between  two  spindles 
in  the  same  row.  For  example,  on  a  12  X  6  frame  the 
space  between  the  spindles  in  the  same  row  is  10  inches, 
although  the  diameter  of  the  full  bobbin  is  only  6  inches. 
This  allows  sufficient  space  for  clearance  of  the  flyers  while 
revolving. 

The   following   table   gives   the   standard   sizes  of  frames 
as  made  by  one  machine  builder: 

TABLE     I 


Frame 


Slubber  .  . 
Slubber  .  . 
Slubber  .  , 
Slubber  .  , 
Slubber  .  , 
First  intermediate 
First  intermediate 
First  intermediate 
First  intermediate 
First  intermediate 
First  intermediate 
First  intermediate 
Second  intermediate 
Second  intermediate 
Second  intermediate 
Second  intermediate 
Second  intermediate 
Second  intermediate 

Roving 

Roving 

Roving 


Size 
Inches 


12  X 

12  X 

II  X 

10  X 

9X 

10  X 

10  X 

9X 

9X 

8X 

8X 

8X 

8X 

7  X 

7  X 

7  X 

7X 

6X 

6X 

5  X 

4iX 


6 
6 

5* 

5 

4* 

5 

5 

4i 

4i 

4 

4 

4 

3i 

3i 

3^ 

3 

3 

3 

2i 
2i 
2i 


Space 
Between 
Spindles 

Inches 


ID 

9i 

9 
9 

7i 
8 

7i 
7 

6i 
6 

si 

5i 

sl 

5 
4i 

4i 

4i 

4i 

4i 

4 


Number  of 
Spindles 


24  to  68 
24  to  68 
28  to  72 
32  to  76 
30  to  96 
40  to  104 
42  to  108 
48  to  114 
48  to  1 14 
48  to  136 
48  to  136 
66  to  132 
56  to  144 
64  to  152 
64  to  152 
72  to  160 
72  to  160 
80  to  168 
88  to  176 
96  to  184 

I  12   to   200 


§24 


FLY  FRAMES 


29 


Fly  frames  are  not  usually  constructed  over  36  feet  in 
length,  as  the  torsion  on  the  rolls  and  shafts  would  be 
excessive  if  this  length  were  increased  to  any  g-reat  extent. 
The  modern  tendency  is  to  use  frames  of  about  this  length, 
and  Table  I  is  prepared  on  this  basis. 

The  main  driving  pulley,  or  the  pulley  on  the  jack-shaft, 
of  the  frame  is  usually  about  16  inches  in  diameter  with  a 
2-inch  face,  although  pulleys  are  used  that  range  from  12  to 
16  inches  in  diameter,  with  faces  from  li  to  2i  inches  in 
width. 

The  weights  of  the  frames  vary  considerably  according 
to  the  make,  the  number  of  spindles,  and  the  gauge;  a 
72-spindle  slubber  will  weigh  about  7,800  pounds;  a  120-spin- 
dle  first  intermediate  will  weigh  about  10,750  pounds;  a 
144-spindle  second  intermediate,  about  9,250  pounds;  and  a 
200-spindle  roving  frame,  about  9,780  pounds. 

The  horsepower  required  to  drive  a  frame  varies  con- 
siderably; therefore,  no  table  can  be  given  that  will  be  accu- 
rate under  all  conditions,  as  various  matters  affect  the  amount 
of  power  required.  The  following  table  may  be  used  as  a 
guide  to  determine  the  amount  of  horsepower  required. 

TABIiE  II 


Frame 

Gauge 
Inch 

Spindles  per  Horsepower 

Slubber 

First  intermediate    . 
Second  intermediate 
Roving 

9 

7 

si 

4i 

35 
6o 

75 
95 

FLY  FRAMES 

(PART  2) 


PRINCIPAL    MOTIONS   OF    FLY    FRAMES 


MECHANISMS     FOR     CONTROI^I^ING     SPEED 
OF     BOBBINS 


DIFFERENTIAL,    MOTIONS 

NoTK. — In  this  Section  the  bobbin-lead  type  of  fly  frames  will  be 
dealt  with  exclusively. 

1.  Introductoi'y. — In  order  to  wind  the  roving  on  the 
bobbin  it  is  necessary  that  the  excess  circumferential  speed 
of  the  bobbin  over  the  flyer  shall  be  equal  to  the  circumferen- 
tial speed  of  the  front  roll,  so  as  to  take  up  the  roving  as  fast 
as  it  is  delivered  by  the  front  roll.  If  the  bobbin  made  the 
same  number  of  revolutions  per  minute  continually,  it  would 
gradually  strain  and  break  the  roving  as  the  bobbin  increased 
in  diameter;  therefore,  some  arrangement  must  be  adopted 
by  which  the  number  of  revolutions  per  minute  of  the  bobbin 
may  be  gradually  reduced  as  the  bobbin  grows  larger.  The 
speed  of  the  bobbin  is  regulated  and  controlled  by  two 
mechanisms  that  act  in  combination.  One  is  known  as  the 
ditferential  motioyi,  more  commonly  called  the  compo^ind  in 
America,  while  the  other  consists  of  two  cones  and  connec- 
tions. The  object  is  to  provide  a  ready  means  of  automat- 
ically reducing  the  number  of  revolutions  per  minute  of  the 
bobbin  in  exact  proportion  to  the  increase  in  its  diameter. 

For  notice  of  copyright,  see  Page  immediately  following  the  title  page 
225 


SSI  G  15 


5% 


LJ=i 


Sft 


?^§    ©     Ecmnr 


§25  FLY  FRAMES  3 

2.  Referring  to  Fig,  1,  the  gear  in.,  on  the  jack-shaft 
drives  the  bobbins,  its  motion  being  imparted  through  the 
gears  7^,  h»  to  the  gear  //s,  which  is  on  a  sleeve  with  h^.  The 
gear  h^  drives  the  bobbin  shaft  h  through  the  gears  lu,  h^, 
the  bobbin  receiving  motion  from  this  shaft  by  means  of  the 
gear  //,  and  bobbin  gear  h^.  The  speed  of  the  gear  m.,  is  con- 
stant, but  by  a  peculiar  arrangement  of  the  gears  //«,  h,,  //«,  //« 
it  is  possible  to  alter  the  speed  of  the  gear  h^  independently 
of  ?«,;  this  in  turn  alters  the  speed  of  the  gear  //s  and  con- 
sequently that  of  the  bobbins.  This  alteration  in  the  speed 
of  the  gear  /;« is  obtained  by  imparting  motion  to  the  gear  h^ 
by  an  entirely  independent  mechanism.  Dealing  first  with  the 
method  of  driving  the  gear  h»,  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  top 
cone  shaft  w  carries  a  cone  «»  that,  by  means  of  a  belt  ii^, 
drives  a  bottom  cone  7i^.  At  the  beginning  of  a  set,  that  is, 
when  the  first  layer  of  roving  is  being  wound  on  the  bobbins, 
the  cone  belt  is  at  the  large  end  of  the  top  cone  and  at  the 
small  end  of  the  bottom  cone,  but  as  the  bobbins  gradually 
grow  larger  the  belt  is  moved  along  the  cones,  until  at  the 
finish  of  a  set,  that  is,  when  the  bobbins  are  full,  the  belt  is  at 
the  small  end  of  the  top  cone  and  the  large  end  of  the  bottom 
cone.  As  the  top  cone  is  the  driver,  any  parts  receiving 
motion  from  the  bottom  cone  will  have  their  highest  speed 
at  the  beginning  of  a  set  and  their  lowest  speed  at  the  finish. 
The  manner  in  which  the  cone  belt  is  moved  along  the  cones 
as  the  bobbins  are  built  will  be  fully  explained  later. 

Referring  again  to  Fig.  1,  it  will  be  noticed  that  a  gear  on 
the  end  of  the  bottom-cone  shaft  drives,  through  suitable 
gearing,  the  gear  ««,  which  meshes  with  the  gear  h,;  conse- 
quently, as  the  belt  is  moved  from  the  small  to  the  large  end 
of  the  bottom  cone,  or,  in  other  words,  as  the  bobbins  become 
full,  the  speed  of  the  gear  We  and  therefore  that  of  the  gear  //« 
will  be  lessened.  The  gears  //e,  //,,  //«,  h^,  vi^  form  the  coni- 
pouiid,  or  differential  motion,  and  in  order  that  the  effect 
of  lessening  the  speed  of  the  gear  ««  may  be  fully  under- 
stood, reference  will  now  be  made  to  Fig.  2,  which  is  a  view 
of  the  compound  alone.  The  large  gear  //»  is  known  as 
the  Sim  gear  and  supports  the  two  bevel  gears  //,,  hy,  by  means 


FLY  FRAMES 


§25 


of  studs  on  which  these 
gears  work  loosely,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  2  {b). 
Thus,  if  the  gear  h^  re- 
volves it  carries  with 
it  the  two  bevel  gears 
h,,  hg,  which  at  the 
same  time  are  free  to 
revolve  on  the  studs 
on  which  they  are 
mounted.  The  action 
of  these  gears  is  as 
follows:  The  gear  m, 
being  fixed  to  the  jack- 
shaft  7?i  drives  the 
gear  //«  through  the  in- 
termediate gears  //,,  h^. 
The  gear  h,  performs 
the  same  work  as  h^ 
and  for  present  con- 
sideration may  be 
imagined  as  not  exist- 
ing, being  used  merely 
to  balance  h^  and  cause 
the  whole  arrangement 
to  revolve  more  uni- 
formly. The  gears 
m-,,  he  are  of  the  same 
size,  and  consequently 
if  h»  were  held  still,  or 
prevented  from  revol- 
ving, 7)1  ^  would  drive  he 
at  the  same  speed  as 
the  shaft  in,  but  in  the 
opposite  direction.  If, 
however,  //«  is  made  to 
revolve  in  the  same  di- 
rection as  he,  the  latter 


§25  FLY  FRAMES  5 

makes  not  only  the  number  of  revolutions  that  it  derives 
through  being  driven  by  w,,  but  an  additional  number  of 
revolutions  caused  by  the  acceleration  that  h^  gives  it. 

3.  One  not  acquainted  with  mechanics  may  be  surprised 
that  h^  causes  h^  to  be  accelerated  2  revolutions  for  each 
revolution  that  //g  makes.  Since,  however,  this  is  a  well- 
known  fact,  no  mathematical  proof  will  be  given,  but  if  the 
privilege  of  experimenting  with  a  compound  in  a  mill  can  be 
obtained  it  can  easily  be  proved  that  by  holding  m^  still  and 
turning  h^  around  once  //«  will  revolve  twice.  Another  test 
may  be  made  with  an  ordinary  yarn  wrapping  reel,  in  which 
a  similar  contrivance  is  used.  It  will  be  found  that  the  reel 
makes  two  revolutions  when  the  handle  is  turned  once, 
although  each  of  the  gears  that  form  the  compound  has 
the  same  number  of  teeth;  the  handle  of  the  reel  acts  the 
same  as  gear  he,.  Fig.  2. 

To  take  an  actual  example,  suppose  that  the  jack-shaft  ni 
makes  400  revolutions  per  minute.  If  lu  is  held  still,  Ju  will 
make  just  400  revolutions  per  minute,  but  in  the  opposite 
direction  to  w,.  Supposing  that  h^  is  now  caused  to  revolve 
20  times  per  minute  in  the  same  direction  as  //«,  it  will  be 
found  that  h^  makes  440  revolutions  per  minute,  since 
400  +  (20  X  2)  =  440.  Suppose  that  without  stopping  the 
frame,  the  number  of  revolutions  of  h^  is  automatically 
reduced  to  15;  then  it  will  be  found  that  lu  makes  430  revolu- 
tions; thus,  400  -t-  (15  X  2)  =  430.  Suppose,  again,  that  the 
speed  of  h^  is  decreased  to  10  revolutions  per  minute;  then  //« 
will  make  420  revolutions,  but  always  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion to  m,\  thus,  400  +  (10  X  2)  =  420.  If  the  train  of  gears 
between  the  gear  Ju  and  the  bobbins  is  so  arranged  that  the 
bobbins  make  1\  times  as  many  revolutions  as  the  gear  //s, 
which  is  on  the  same  sleeve  as  Ju,  then  in  the  first  case  the 
bobbins  will  make  440  x  2^^  =  1,100  revolutions,  while  in  the 
last  case  they  will  make  1,050  revolutions,  so  that  it  will  be 
seen  that  their  speed  has  been  automatically  reduced  from 
1,100  to  1,050  revolutions  per  minute  as  the  bobbin  has 
increased  in  size. 


6  FLY  FRAMES  §25 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  this  arrangement  provides  the 
varying  conditions  necessary  for  the  building  of  a  bobbin. 
When  the  roving  is  being  wound  on  an  empty  bobbin,  the 
latter  must  be  rotated  at  its  highest  speed  in  order  to  wind 
on  the  roving  delivered;  this  speed  is  attained  by  having  the 
cone  belt  at  the  large  end  of  the  driving  cone  and  the  small 
end  of  the  driven  cone.  As  the  roving  is  wound  on  the  bobbin 
and  the  bobbin  increases  in  size,  a  gradual  reduction  of  the 
speed  of  the  bobbin  is  required,  so  that  it  may  revolve  at  its 
slowest  speed  when  the  bobbin  is  full.  By  this  time  the  cone 
belt  has  been  moved  along  the  cones  until  the  small  end  of  the 
driving  cone  is  driving  the  large  end  of  the  driven  cone.  As 
the  speed  of  the  driven  cone  gradually  diminishes,  that  of  the 
gear  n^  decreases  also,  since  it  is  driven  from  the  bottom  cone. 
Consequently,  the  gear  h^  will  be  driven  more  slowly,  as  well 
as  the' gear //e  and  the  gears  that  drive  the  bobbins,  since 
these  are  driven  from  the  gear  h^,  which  is  on  the  same 
sleeve  as  the  gear  h^. 

4.  The  compound  just  described  is  an  old  type  and  is 
found  on  most  of  the  older  frames.  The  one  great  objection 
to  it  is  the  unnecessary  strain  on  the  cone  belt  on  account  of 
the  friction  caused  by  the  sleeve  that  carries  the  gears  ^e,  h^, 
and  also  the  one  that  carries  the  sun  gear  h^.  These  sleeves 
and  gears  revolve  in  an  opposite  direction  to  that  of  the  jack- 
shaft  m.  The  compounds  shown  in  Figs.  3,  4,  and  5  are  built 
to  avoid  this  fault  and  are  so  constructed  that  all  parts  revolve 
in  the  same  direction.  Although  these  styles  differ  in  construc- 
tion, they  all  have  the  same  objects  in  general;  that  is,  they  are 
all  constructed  to  drive  the  bobbins  at  a  varying  speed  in 
order  to  effect  winding,  and  in  the  last  three  types  are  con- 
structed to  reduce  the  strain  on  the  cone  belt  by  reducing  the 
amount  of  friction  and  thereby  reducing  the  liability  of  its 
breaking.  The  amount  of  oil  consumed  is  also  reduced  to  a 
minimum.  As  far  as  possible,  the  parts  in  Figs.  2,  3,  4,  and  5 
that  perform  similar  work  have  the  same  reference  letters. 

Fig.  3  shows  a  compound  that  is  peculiar  in  construction 
but  very  simple  and  accurate  in  its  workings.     On  the  main 


§25 


FLY  FRAMES 


shaft  in  is  a  boss,  or 
cross-piece,  q  for  the 
reception  of,  and  to 
form  a  bearing  for,  the 
small  cross-shaft  q^  that 
carries  the  two  bevel 
gears  h-,,  h».  Loose  on 
the  shaft  vi  is  a  bell, 
or,  as  it  is  sometimes 
called,  socket,  gear  //j, 
which  through  its  con- 
nections drives  the 
bobbins.  Attached  to 
the  gear  h^  is  a  bevel 
gear  h^.  Beyond  the 
cross-shaft  and  fast  on 
a  sleeve  is  the  gear  h^, 
which  is  driven  from 
the  bottom  cone  by  a 
train  of  gears.  On  the 
opposite  end  of  this 
sleeve,  which  is  loose 
on  the  shaft  vi,  is  a 
bevel  gear  m^  that 
meshes  with  the  larger 
bevel  gear  h^.  The 
shaft  m  being  posi- 
tively driven  at  a  con- 
stant speed,  imparts 
motion  to  the  bell 
gear  7^5,  since  the  cross- 
shaft  q^  and  the  parts 
connected  with  it  turn 
the  bevel  gear  h^  of 
which  hs  is  a  part,  and  if 
it  were  not  for  the  ad- 
ditional speed  imparted 
through    the    gear   h^. 


rrrx 


8  FLY  FRAMES  §25 

the  gear  //s  would  make  the  same  number  of  revolutions  as  m; 
ht,  however,  is  positively  driven  in  the  same  direction  as  r?i 
through  the  cones,  while  w,,  being  on  the  same  sleeve  with  h^, 
drives  h^  and  consequently  //,  on  the  other  end  of  the  cross- 
shaft.  As  h,  meshes  with  //«,  the  latter  and  also  h^  receive 
an  accelerated  motion  in  addition  to  that  derived  through  the 
motion  of  the  shaft  7n. 

The  effect  of  the  combined  forces  acting  on  h^  is  to  cause 
it  to  revolve  at  such  an  accelerated  speed  that,  when  winding 
is  being  performed  at  the  beginning  of  a  set  of  bobbins,  the 
empty  bobbins  revolve  so  much  faster  than  the  spindles  as 
to  wind  on  the  roving  delivered  by  the  rolls.  As  the 
gear  h^  is  driven  from  the  bottom  cone  and  the  speed  of  this 
cone  is  reduced  in  the  usual  manner,  the  speed  of  h^  is 
gradually  reduced  as  the  bobbins  are  built  up,  resulting  in 
the  diminishing  of  the  speed  of  h^  and  /u;  the  speed  of  these 
gears,  however,  is  not  reduced  at  any  time  so  as  to  be 
less  than  the  speed  of  the  shaft  ?n,  thus  always  insuring  that 
the  bobbins  revolve  faster  than  the  spindles  and  that  winding 
is  constantly  taking  place. 

In  this  compoiind,  all  the  gears  that  are  loose  on  the 
shaft  m  revolve  in  the  same  direction  as  the  shaft;  thus,  the 
power  required  to  drive  them  is  greatly  reduced  in  compar- 
ison with  the  old-style  compound,  since  there  is  only  a  very 
slight  amount  of  friction  between  the  gears  and  the  shaft. 
An  advantage  over  the  older  form  of  compound  will  be 
readily  seen  in  the  saving  of  power  and  the  lessening  of  the 
strain  on  the  working  parts,  especially  on  the  cone  belt, 
where  the  strain  is  lessened  to  a  very  great  degree.  In  this 
compound,  the  revolution  of  the  shaft  in  becomes  a  help  to 
the  cone  belt  instead  of  an  obstacle,  as  in  the  old  form  of 
compound.  The  greatest  strain  put  on  the  belt  is  no  more 
than  is  required  to  revolve  the  bobbins  at  their  maximum 
speed  of  about  100  revolutions  per  minute  beyond  those  run 
by  the  spindles.  The  shaft  helps  to  the  extent  of  the  num- 
ber of  revolutions  that  it  drives  the  spindles,  and  the  balance, 
which  varies  from  100  revolutions  to  none,  is  easily  obtained 
with  little  strain  on  the  cone  belt.     It  is  obvious  that  with 


§25 


FLY  FRAMES 


the  strain  thus  reduced,  the  cone  belt  will  almost  entirely 
cease  to  be  a  trouble  or  the  cause  of  bad  work. 

5.  Fig.  4  (a)  and  (d)  shows  views  of  a  compound  widely 
different  from  those  described.  It  uses  spur  gears  instead 
of  bevel  gears,  thus  reducing  the  amount  of  friction.  The 
gear  ka  is  on  a  sleeve  that  carries  at  its  opposite  end  a 
gear  m,;  this  sleeve  is  loose  on  the  jack-shaft  m  and  revolves 
in  the  same  direction.     The  gear  /i»  is  driven  by  the  cones 


in  the  usual  manner,  its  speed  depending  on  the  position  of 
the  belt  on  the  cones,  while  the  gear  ;//,  causes  the  gears  /i,,  //« 
to  revolve  on  their  axes.  The  annular  gear  /le,  which  is 
fast  to  the  jack-shaft  m  and  revolves  with  it,  gives  motion 
to  the  disk  k,o  simply  because  the  gears  /i,,  /is,  which  are 
on  studs  fastened  to  the  disk,  mesh  with  its  teeth.  The 
gears  //,,  /is  have  two  motions;  they  revolve  on  their  axes  and 
also  around  the  annular  gear  k^.    Thus,  the  disk  //,o  is  caused 


10  FLY  FRAMES  §25 

to  revolve  at  a  greater  speed  than  the  jack-shaft,  and  as 
it  is  on  the  same  sleeve  as  the  gear  //s,  it  causes  h^  to 
revolve  and  give  motion  to  the  bobbins.  When  the  speed  of 
the  gear  h^  is  reduced  by  the  cones,  it  reduces  the  speed  of 
the  gear  ;;^,,  and  consequently  that  of  the  gears  h.,,  hg,  as  well 
as  that  of  the  gear  h^,  thus  driving  the  bobbins  more  slowly. 
The  sleeve  that  carries  the  gear  hs  and  the  disk  //lo  is  outside 
of  the  one  that  carries  the  gears  h^,  m,,  but  it  revolves  in  the 
same  direction;  thus  there  is  a  sleeve  within  a  sleeve,  form- 
ing what  might  be  called  a  double,  or  compound,  sleeve.  The 
gearing  in  this  compound  is  protected  from  dust  and  dirt  by 
a  shell  or  casing,  which  also  forms  an  oil  chamber  so  that 
the  gears  and  sleeves  are  well  lubricated  at  all  times. 
Fig.  4  {a)  shows  the  compound  closed  and  in  working  posi- 
tion, while  Fig.  4  ((5)  shows  it  open  with  the  internal  parts 
exposed  to  viev^^. 

6.  A  compound  that  is  novel,  compact,  and  very  effective 
is  shown  in  Fig.  5  (<?)  and  {b);  («)  is  a  plan  view  partly  in 
section,  while  {b)  is  a  sectional  elevation.  The  jack-shaft  m 
carries  the  twist  gear  m^  and  the  spindle  gear  vi^,  while  the 
compound  is  situated  between  these  two  gears.  Loose  on 
the  jack-shaft  is  a  sleeve  carrying  the  gear  h^  and  the 
cam  //lo.  The  cam  is  circular  and  has  a  beveled  face,  as 
shown  in  the  elevation  {b) .  Inside  the  shell,  or  bell,  por- 
tion of  the  cam  is  the  bevel  gear  m-,  fast  to  the  jack-shaft  in. 
Bearing  against  the  face  of  the  cam  h-,a  is  a  circular  disk  q^ 
that  revolves  freely  on  a  spherical  bearing  q^.  This  disk 
has  36  teeth  on  each  side,  as  shown  at  ^3  and  q^;  ^3  meshes 
with  m.,,  which  has  32  teeth,  while  q^  meshes  with  the  bevel 
gear  h^,  which  has  36  teeth  and  is  fastened  to  a  long  sleeve 
that  is  loose  on  the  jack-shaft  and  carries  the  spherical  bear- 
ing ^5  and  the  gear  h^  that  drives  the  bobbins.  As  the  jack- 
shaft  revolves,  it  carries  the  bevel  gear  in.,  with  it;  and  as  m., 
meshes  with  q^,  it  causes  the  circular  disk  to  revolve  on  the 
spherical  bearing.  Since  q^  forms  a  part  of  the  circular  disk, 
it  will  revolve  with  the  disk  and  impart  motion  to  the  bevel 
gear  //«  and  the  bobbin  gear  h^,  because  q^  meshes  with  h^. 


25 


FLY  FRAMES 


11 


12  FLY  FRAMES  §25 

At  the  beginning  of  a  new  set  of  bobbins,  the  bobbin 
gear  Ju  makes  the  same  number  of  revolutions  per  minute 
as  the  jack-shaft,  and  drives  the  bobbins  at  the  required  speed 
to  wind  on  the  correct  amount  of  roving.  As  the  gear  //, 
is  driven  from  the  cones,  it  is  the  only  medium  for  altering 
the  speed  of  the  bobbins.  When  commencing  to  wind  a  new 
set  of  bobbins,  this  gear  makes  the  same  number  of  revolu- 
tions per  minute  as  the  jack-shaft;  consequently,  for  the 
present  the  cam  may  be  considered  as  not  existing,  as  it 
maintains  the  same  relation  between  the  gears  m-,,  ^3,  q*,  h^, 
thus  allowing  them  to  act  as  clutch  gears,  because  the  same 
teeth  of  the  gears  mesh  with  each  other  for  the  time  being, 
and  cause  h^  to  make  the  same  number  of  revolutions  as  the 
jack-shaft. 

At  the  completion  of  each  layer  of  roving  on  the  bobbins, 
the  cone  belt  is  moved  along  the  cones,  thereby  decreasing 
the  speed  of  the  gear  h^  and  the  cam  //i„.  As  the  speed  of  the 
cam  is  decreased,  it  causes  the  circular  disk  to  oscillate  on 
the  spherical  bearing  and  change  the  points  of  contact  of  the 
gear  m.,  with  ^3,  and  q^  with  h^.  This  oscillating  motion  of 
the  disk  causes  q^  to  roll  around  the  gear  w„  and  as  m.,  is 
smaller  than  q^,  it  causes  a  direct  loss  of  speed  to  the 
circular  disk,  because  it  requires  more  than  one  revolution 
of  the  gear  w,  to  give  ^3  one  complete  turn.  Since  the 
speed  of  the  disk  is  reduced,  the  gears  Ju,  h^  are  affected  in 
a  similar  manner,  which  causes  the  bobbins  to  make  fewer 
revolutions  per  minute.  The  gradual  reduction  in  the  speed 
of  the  bobbins  in  a  bobbin-lead  frame  is  necessary  in  order 
that  the  bobbins  may  retain  their  proper  circumferential 
speed,  as  their  diameters  increase  with  each  new  layer  of 
roving. 

This  entire  motion  is  protected  by  a  shell,  or  casing,  21  and 
may  be  thoroughly  oiled  by  means  of  the  oil  hole  7^,  which 
extends  through  the  boss  of  the  casing  and  the  sleeve  of  the 
spherical  bearing  to  the  jack-shaft,  and  there  connects  with 
a  passage  in  the  sleeve  of  the  spherical  bearing.  This  pas- 
sage ends  at  a  chamber  u.,  that  is  in  the  spherical  bearing. 
A  hole  in  the  bearing  allows  the  oil  to  be  distributed  on  the 


§25  FLY  FRAMES  13 

face  of  the  bearing  and  to  pass  into  the  large  chamber,  where 
it  is  distributed  by  the  projections  u^  on  all  of  the  remaining 
parts,  thus  insuring  a  perfect  lubrication  at  all  times. 


THE    CONES 

7.  Any  one  of  the  four  types  of  compounds  described 
provides  a  method  of  controlling  the  speed  of  the  bobbins 
and  gradually  reducing  it  as  they  increase  in  diameter,  if  the 
speed  of  the  controlling  gear  of  the  compound  itself  is  suit- 
ably reduced.  The  action  of  the  compounds  shown  in 
Figs.  2,  3,  4,  and  5  is  governed  by  the  gears  lettered  h^  in 
each  case.  If  in  any  one  of  these  compounds  the  speed  of 
this  gear  is  reduced,  the  speed  of  the  bobbins  is  reduced. 
To  secure  the  suitable  reduction  of  the  speed  of  the  control- 
ling gear  in  compounds  on  fly  frames,  a  pair  of  cones  is 
always  introduced  between  the  source  of  power  applied  to 
the  machine  and  the  compounds.  These  cones  as  used  in 
combination  with  the  ordinary  type  of  compound  are  shown 
in  Fig.  1;  the  top  cone  n^  is  concave  and  has  a  diameter  of 
62  inches  at  one  end  and  3i  at  the  other,  while  the  lower 
cone  is  convex  and  has  a  diameter  of  6i  inches  at  the  large 
end  and  3i  at  the  small  end.  These  cones  are  connected  by 
a  belt,  by  which  the  upper  cone  drives  the  lower  cone;  this 
belt  is  gradually  moved  from  the  larger  end  of  the  top  cone 
to  the  smaller  end  during  the  filling  of  the  bobbin,  a  slight 
movement  being  given  to  it  each  time  that  the  traverse  of 
the  frame  is  changed.  This  movement  is  so  proportioned 
as  to  bring  the  cone  belt  to  the  small  end  of  the  upper  cone 
by  the  time  the  bobbins  are  filled. 

As  the  length  of  roving  wound  on  the  bobbin  always 
equals  the  excess  surface  speed  of  the  bobbin  over  the  flyer, 
if  a  bobbin  starts  with  a  certain  number  of  revolutions  per 
minute,  its  rotary  movement  in  excess  of  that  of  the  flyer 
must  be  decreased  in  direct  proportion  to  its  increase  in 
diameter.  If  the  diameter  of  the  full  bobbin  is  four  times 
that  of  the  empty  one,  which  is  common  in  fly  frames,  the 
excess  speed  must  be  reduced  to  one-quarter.     For  instance, 


14  FLY  FRAMES  §25 

if  the  empty  bobbin  is  1  inch  in  diameter  and  the  full  bobbin 
4  inches  in  diameter,  this  means  that  the  diameters  of  the 
cones  must  be  arranged  to  give  a  reduction  of  4  from  one 
extreme  to  the  other.  The  diameters  suitable  for  this  and 
such  as  are  generally  adopted  are  those  mentioned,  and  it  is 
obvious  that  the  lower  cone  will  revolve  four  times  as  fast 
when  driven  from  the  large  end  of  the  upper  cone  as  it  will 
when  driven  from  the  small  end;  thus,  62  -^  Si  =  2;  Si  -^  62 
=  .5;  2  --  .5  =  4. 

Formerly  cones  were  made  with  a  straight  surface,  dimin- 
ishing equally  from  the  large  to  the  smaller  end  of  the  cone, 
but  it  has  been  found  in  practice  that  a  concave  upper  cone 
and  a  convex  bottom  cone  give  more  even  winding,  and  they 
are  now  usually  so  constructed.  When  the  belt  is  on  the 
large  end  of  the  top  cone  and  driving  the  small  end  of  the 
bottom  cone,  the  roving  is  being  wound  on  the  bare  bobbin. 


_     BUILDER    MOTIONS 

8.  There  are  several  very  important  points  that  should 
be  considered  in  connection  with  the  winding  of  the  roving 
on  the  bobbin.  It  is  customary  to  have  each  succeeding 
layer  of  roving  slightly  shorter  than  the  preceding  one,  thus 
forming  a  taper  at  both  ends  of  the  bobbin.  Thus,  as  is 
shown  in  Fig.  6,  the  first  layer  of  roving  that  is  placed  on  the 
bobbin  extends  from  a  to  b,  while  the  last  la^^er  extends  only 
from  c  to  d.  Consequently,  it  becomes  necessary  to  intro- 
duce some  mechanism  by  means  of  which  the  traverse  of  the 
carriage  may  be  shortened  each  time  one  complete  layer  of 
roving  has  been  placed  on  the  bobbin.  It  might  naturally  be 
supposed  that  since  the  traverse  is  shortened  as  the  bobbin 
grows  larger,  the  time  occupied  by  the  carriage  in  making 
the  traverse  will  be  lessened;  but  this  is  not  so,  since  with 
each  layer  of  roving  the  diameter  of  the  bobbin  is  increased 
and  consequently,  although  the  part  of  the  bobbin  that  is 
covered  by  the  layer  is  less,  there  is  actually  a  greater  length 
of  roving.  Still  another  point  to  be  noted  is  that  in  order  to 
make  a  well-wound  bobbin  it  is  necessary  that  there  should 


§25 


FLY  FRAMES 


15 


be  only  a  slight  space  between  any  two  adjacent  coils  in  the 
same  layer  of  roving,  and  that  this  space  should  be  main- 
tained throughout  the  building  of  the  bobbin.  It  will  be 
seen  that  the  distance  between  two  adjacent  coils  of  roving 
will  depend  on  the  speed  at  which  the  bobbin  is  traversed. 

It  would  be  a  comparatively  simple  matter  to  so  regulate 
the  speed  of  the  carriage  that  the  roving  would  be  wound 
correctly  for  one  layer,  but  the  principal  difficulty  in  building 
the  bobbin  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  correct  speed  of  the  car- 
riage for  an  empty  bobbin  is  not  the  correct  speed  for  the 
bobbin  after  it  has  had  several  layers  of 
roving  wound  on  it.  That  this  is  so  may 
be  readily  seen  if  it  is  considered  that 
with  each  additional  layer  of  roving  the 
bobbin  is  increased  slightly  in  diameter 
and  that  consequently  it  takes  a  greater 
length  of  roving  to  form  one  complete 
coil  around  the  bobbin.  Therefore,  in 
order  that  the  same  space  may  exist 
between  two  consecutive  coils  in  any 
layer  throughout  the  filling  of  the  bob- 
bin, the  speed  at  which  the  carriage,  and 
consequently  the  bobbin,  traverses  up 
and  down  must  be  lessened  as  the 
bobbin  becomes  larger. 

Referring  again  to  Fig.  1,  the  shaft  n.,, 
which  is  driven  from  the  bottom  cone, 
carries  a  bevel  gear  n^  that  drives  the 
bevel  gear  n^  on  an  upright  shaft. 


\'.—  .. '  1/a 

LUi: 


Fig.  6 

At  the  lower  end  of  this 
upright  shaft  is  a  bevel  gear  v  that  by  means  of  the  gears  v^,  v,, 
the  action  of  which  will  be  explained  later,  gives  motion  to 
the  shaft  v^.  The  gear  lu  on  the  end  of  this  shaft  drives, 
through  suitable  gearing,  the  shaft  r,,  which  carries  the 
gear  r,  that  imparts  motion  to  the  rack  r,.  Since  the  motion 
of  this  train  of  gears  is  derived  from  the  bottom  cone,  the 
rack  and,  consequently,  the  carriage  will  be  driven  at  a  speed 
that  is  uniformly  decreasing  as  the  bobbins  are  becoming  full, 
which  is  the  result  desired. 


16  FLY  FRAMES  §25 

AMERICAN    TYPE    OF    BUILDER 

9.  In  order  to  shorten  the  length  of  the  traverse  with 
each  layer  of  roving  placed  on  the  bobbin  and  also  to  reverse 
the  direction  of  the  traverse,  the  builder  motion  is  applied 
to  all  fly  frames.  A  view  of  a  builder  motion  that  illustrates 
the  style  generally  used  on  American-built  frames  is  given 
in  Figs.  1  and  7.  Its  parts  are  as  follows:  Attached  to  the 
carriage,  and  consequently  rising  and  falling  together  with  it, 
is  a  bracket  x,  Fig.  7,  carrying  a  casting  that  supports  a  central 
shaft  Xi  on  which  right-  and  left-hand  threads  are  cut.  The 
upper  thread  carries  the  jaw  x^,  and  the  lower  thread  the 
jaw  x,;  therefore,  by  turning  the  shaft  x,  in  the  proper  direc- 
tion the  two  jaws  can  be  brought  closer  together,  the  upper 
jaw  X2  projecting  beyond  the  lower  jaw  .1-3  and  being  capable 
of  sliding  outside,  as  shown  in  the  illustrations.  The  upper 
part  of  the  shaft  Xi  is  made  square  and  projects  through  a 
gear  Xt  supported  by  a  bracket.  As  the  gear  x^  is  not  set- 
screwed  to  the  shaft  x^,  any  vertical  movement  of  one  will 
not  affect  the  other,  and  yet  on  account  of  that  part  of  the  shaft 
that  projects  through  the  gear  being  square,  and  the  aperture 
in  the  gear  being  of  such  a  shape  as  to  fit  the  shaft,  any  rotary 
motion  of  one  will  be  communicated  to  the  other.  In  study- 
ing this  motion  it  should  be  understood  that  as  the  bracket  x  is 
raised  and  lowered  by  the  carriage  it  takes  with  it  the  shaft  Xi 
and  the  jaws  x^,  X3.  Another  upright  shaft  w,  known  as  the 
tumbler  shaft,  carries  a  dog  7e\  having  two  arms  w^,  w^.  At 
the  bottom  of  the  tumbler  shaft  is  a  circular  disk  y^  with  two 
lugs,  shown  in  plan  in  Fig.  7  (b),  against  each  of  which,  in 
turn,  a  lever  y,  is  pressed  by  means  of  a  strong  spring  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  tend  to  move  the  shaft  a  small  portion  of  a 
revolution.  At  the  upper  end  of  the  shaft  is  a  gear  w^  com- 
posed of  four  sections,  also  shown  in  plan  in  Fig.  1  (d);  two 
of  these  sections  that  are  directly  opposite  each  other  have 
13  teeth  each,  while  the  other  two  sections  are  blank. 

10.  The  action  of  this  part  of  the  mechanism  is  as  follows: 
Suppose  that  the  parts  are  in  the  position  shown  in  Fig.  7;  then 


§25 


FLY  FRAMES 


17 


the  spring  acting  on  one  of  the  lugs  on  the  disk  at  the  foot 
of  the  shaft  w  is  tending  to  give  this  shaft  a  partial  revolu- 


FiG.  7 


tion  but  is  prevented  from  doing  so  by  the  arm  w^  bearing 
against  the  jaw  x,.     The  carriage  when  the  parts  are  in  this 


18  FLY  FRAMES  §25 

position  is  moving  up,  and  when  it  has  risen  sufficiently  so 
that  the  jaw  x^  is  raised  above  the  arm  w^,  the  spring  is 
allowed  to  act  on  the  shaft  u>  and  turn  it  until  the  gear  ?i,o  on 
the  end  of  the  top-cone  shaft  engages  with  the  teeth  in  one 
of  the  sections  of  the  gear  w^.  These  two  gears  continue  to 
engage  until  a  blank  section  on  the  gear  w^  is  presented 
to  Wio,  at  which  point  the  spring  at  the  foot  of  the  shaft  7v 
will  act  on  the  second  lug  and  further  turn  the  shaft  until  the 
arm  w^  comes  in  contact  with  one  of  the  jaws.  The  entire 
motion  of  the  shaft  w  at  any  one  time  is  thus  equal  to  half  a 
revolution.  It  should  be  noted  that  although  the  carriage  at 
the  time  these  actions  take  place  is  sufficiently  high  to  allow 
the  arm  w^  to  pass  under  the  jaw  x,,  the  arm  w^,  owing  to 
its  being  situated  in  a  higher  plane  than  zfo,  will  come  in 
contact  with  the  jaw  X3,  and  as  the  carriage  is  lowered,  with 
the  jaw  x^  also.  When  the  motion  of  the  carriage  is  down- 
wards, the  arm  w^  is  bearing  against  the  jaws,  and  as  the 
jaw  Xi  is  brought  low  enough  to  free  this  arm  the  shaft  w  is 
given  a  half  revolution  in  the  same  manner  as  that  described. 
In  making  this  half  revolution,  the  tumbler  shaft  accom- 
plishes a  change  in  three  parts  of  the  frame  at  the  same 
time:  (1)  The  carriage  is  driven  in  an  opposite  direc- 
tion, that  is,  if  it  was  going  up  before,  it  is  going  down 
after  the  shaft  has  turned;  (2)  the  belt  is  moved  along  the 
cones  for  a  short  distance;  (3)  the  length  of  the  traverse  is 
shortened.  Dealing  with  these  points  separately  and  in  the 
order  given  above,  when  the  tumbler  shaft  is  given  a  half 
revolution  it  turns  the  cam  )u  situated  at  its  lower  end,  a  plan 
view  of  which  is  shown  in  Fig.  1  (c).  This  action  results  in 
giving  the  rod  y,  Fig.  1,  a  longitudinal  motion.  This  rod  is 
jointed  to  the  rod  v^  in  such  a  manner  that  the  latter  is 
allowed  to  revolve  without  in  any  way  affecting  the  former, 
and  yet  any  longitudinal  motion  of  one  will  affect  the  other. 
On  the  rod  zs  are  shown  two  gears  z\,  v.,  the  teeth  of  which 
face  each  other;  these  are  known  as  the  twin  sjears.  They 
are  so  adjusted  on  the  rod  that  a  movement  in  either 
direction  of  the  rod  y  causes  one  or  the  other  of  the  two 
gears  to  come  in  contact  with  the  bevel  gear  v.     It  will  be 


§25  FLY  FRAMES  19 

seen  that  the  direction  in  which  the  shaft  v^  rotates  will 
be  periodically  reversed;  i.  e.,  if  it  were  turning  from  right 
to  left  before  the  tumbler  shaft  turned,  it  will  be  turning  from 
left  to  right  afterwards.  As  the  carriage  is  primarily  driven 
by  the  shaft  v^,  the  direction  of  movement  of  the  carriage 
will  thus  be  reversed  at  every  turn  of  the  tumbler  shaft. 

On  the  tumbler  shaft  is  placed  a  gear  j,  that  through  a  suit- 
able train  drives  the  gear  y^  gearing  into  the  rack  j^^,  which 
carries  at  one  end  a  belt  guide  y^,  Fig.  1;  consequently,  as  the 
tumbler  shaft  is  revolved,  the  gear  y^  will  turn  j/^,  thus  giving 
motion  to  the  rack  y^,  and  through  the  belt  guide  y^  moving 
the  belt  a  short  distance  toward  the  small  end  of  the  top  cone. 

As  the  rack  is  moved,  it  imparts  motion  to  the  gear  x^ 
which  through  the  gear  x^  turns  the  gear  x^  and  consequently 
the  shaft  x^.  The  movement  of  the  shaft  x^  brings  the 
jaws  x^,  Xs  closer  together,  which  allows  the  arms  za^y  w,  to 
escape  the  jaws  when  the  carriage  has  made  a  shorter 
traverse  than  was  previously  necessary. 

11.  Change  Gears. — In  connection  with  this  builder 
motion  there  are  the  following  very  important  change  gears, 
reference  being  made  to  Fig.  1:  the  lay  gear  v^,  the  tension 
gear  y^,  the  taper  gear  x^,  and  the  rack  gear  y^.  The  lay 
gear  v^  forms  part  of  the  train  of  gears  that  regulate  the 
speed  at  which  the  carriage  moves  up  and  down,  and  con- 
sequently the  distance  between  any  two  consecutive  coils  of 
roving  on  the  bobbin.  In  case  the  correct  distance  is  not 
maintained  between  the  coils,  this  gear  is  the  one  that  is 
changed.  The  tension  gear  y^  regulates  the  distance  that  the 
cone  belt  moves  along  the  cones  at  each  reversal  of  the 
traverse  of  the  carriage,  and  consequently  controls  the  tension 
of  the  roving  between  the  delivery  rolls  and  the  flyer,  since  if 
the  belt  is  moved  a  shorter  distance  along  the  cones,  it  causes 
all  the  motions  controlled  by  the  cone  belt  to  tend  toward 
winding  more  quickly  and  thus  increase  the  tension  of  the 
roving,  while  on  the  other  hand  if  the  cone  belt  is  moved  a 
greater  distance,  the  reverse  will  be  true.  The  taper  gear  x^ 
regulates  the  distance  that  the  jaws  of  the  builder  motion  will 


20  FLY  FRAMES  §25 

be  brought  toward  each  other  at  each  reversal  of  the  car- 
riage, and  consequently  regulates  the  taper  on  the  bobbin. 
The  rack  gear  y^  regulates  the  distance  that  the  rack  moves  at 
any  one  time,  and  consequently  also  regulates  both  the  tension 
and  the  taper  at  the  same  time.  By  changing  the  rack  gear 
to  a  smaller  gear  the  rack  is  moved  a  shorter  distance,  thus 
causing  the  jaws  of  the  builder  to  come  together  more 
slowly  and  the  belt  to  be  moved  along  the  cones  more  slowly. 


ENGLISH    TYPE    OF    BUILDER 

12.  Fig.  8  {a)  and  {b)  shows  a  style  of  builder  motion 
that  is  found  on  English-built  frames.  Fig.  8  {a)  shows 
this  motion  as  it  appears  on  the  frame,  while  Fig.  8  {b) 
shows  the  motion  with  certain  of  the  parts  removed  in  order 
that  its  action  may  be  more  clearly  explained.  Attached  to 
the  carriage  of  the  fly  frame  is  a  bracket  x  that  has  a  slot  x^ 
cast  in  it.  A  stud  x^  that  works  in  this  slot  carries  a  bar  x^, 
known  as  the  poker  bar,  that  passes  through  a  cradle  a 
loose  on  the  shaft  b.  Attached  to  the  bracket  x  is  an  arm  y  that 
has  connected  to  it  at  y^  a  cradle  c  centered  at  <:,.  It  should 
be  carefully  noted  that  as  the  carriage  traverses  up  and  down 
it  will  carry  with  it  the  bracket  x  and  thus  cause  the  poker 
bar  X3  to  give  a  rocking  motion  to  the  cradle  a.  At  the  same 
time  the  cradle  c  will  also  receive  a  rocking  motion,  due  to 
its  being  connected  to  the  bracket  x  by  the  arm  y.  A  vertical 
shaft  d  carries  the  two  gears  y.,  d^.  The  gear  y.  engages 
with  the  rack  y^  that  carries  the  belt  guide,  while  the  gear  d^ 
engages  with  the  gear  d^,  which  is  fastened  to  the  shaft  b. 
Fastened  to  the  same  shaft  are  the  gears  e,e^,  the  gear  (?, 
engaging  with  teeth  on  the  under  side  of  the  poker 
bar  X3  while  the  gear  £>  is  a  ratchet  gear  and  has  work- 
ing in  its  teeth  the  stop-pawls  ^,,^3.  At  the  top,  or  head,  of 
the  vertical  shaft  ^  is  a  drum  d^,  on  which  is  wound  a  chain  / 
carrying  a  weight  g;  this  weight  exerts  a  constant  pull  on 
the  chain,  and  were  it  not  for  the  engagement  of  the  stop- 
pawls  e.,e^  with  the  teeth  of  the  ratchet  gear  <?,  would  cause 
the  shaft  d  to  revolve  until  the  chain  was  entirely  unwound 
from  the  drum.     The  cradle  h,  which  is  loose  on  the  shaft  b, 


1  afo  II  II  II  ii 


I     I   i  \[p~',\  ii  I'll  1 
I  ! '7  il   II  I'  iij 


ii  1.^1 ,1  ii 

Ji_lL±!_'i  J, 


fa) 


F.'G.  ! 


(f>) 


)2S> 


§25  FLY  FRAMES  21 

carries  at  its  lower  end  a  stud  j,  and  bracket  y,  which  has  two 
projecting  armsy.,/,,  while  at  its  upper  end  the  cradle  has 
three  projections  //,,  h^,  h^.  The  projection  /;.  forms  a  shoulder 
against  which  the  two  pigeon  levers  k,  k^  are  kept  in  contact 
by  means  of  the  spring  k^  that  passes  under  the  stud  b  and  is 
connected  to  the  levers  at  k^,  /C%,  respectively,  thus  exerting 
a  continual  pull  on  the  levers  k,  ^,  in  a  downward  direction 
toward  the  shaft  b.  The  levers  k,  k^  are  centered  on  studs  k.,,  k^ 
that  are  secured  to  the  frame.  Directly  above  the  points  c^,  c, 
of  the  cradle  c  are  two  hooks  m^,  m^  that  form  part  of  the 
rods  ;;/,  Wi,  respectively.  The  rod  w  has  the  weight  7i 
attached  to  its  lower  end,  while  at  its  upper  end  it  passes 
through  the  projection  h^  of  the  cradle  h.  The  rod  m^  is 
connected  to  the  cradle  h  in  exactly  the  same  manner  and 
carries  the  weight  ?^,.  Consequently,  if  the  weights  are  not 
supported  at  the  points  c^,  c^  by  means  of  the  hooks  m„  w,, 
they  will  be  suspended  from  the  projections  //j,  h^. 

13.  The  operation  of  the  parts  is  as  follows:  Assuming 
that  the  carriage  is  ascending,  as  indicated  by  the  arrow, 
carrying  with  it  the  poker  bar  x^  and  raising  the  right-hand 
side  of  the  cradle  c,  as  the  rail  ascends,  the  point  c^  descends 
until  the  rod  ;;z  with  weight  n  is  resting  entirely  on  the  end  h, 
of  the  cradle  h;  the  weight  7i  tends  to  pull  h.,  downwards  but 
is  prevented  from  doing  so  by  the  lever  k  being  in  contact 
with  the  shoulder  h^.  When  the  carriage  has  ascended  far 
enough,  the  setscrew  a^  that  is  attached  to  the  cradle  a  forces 
down  the  lever  k  at  its  outer  end,  thus  releasing  the  shoulder  h^ 
and  allowing  the  cradle  h  to  be  pulled  over  by  the  weight  n, 
which  as  previously  stated  was  hanging  from  h^,  due  to  the 
descent  of  c.  Not  only  does  the  ascent  of  r^  allow  the  rod  rn 
attached  to  the  weight  7i  to  rest  on  Ii^,  but  it  simultaneously 
raises  the  rod  ;«.  attached  to  the  weight  n^  from  the  projec- 
tion //a,  by  raising  the  point  r,  and  allowing  the  weight  to  be 
borne  by  the  cradle  c  at  this  point,  thus  avoiding  any  pull  of 
?ii  on  hi  and  also  allowing  the  cradle  //  to  rock  freely.  The 
cradle  h  carries  at  its  lower  extremity  the  bracket  /;  there- 
fore, if  the  center  of  motion  is  at  b,  any  movement  of  //a  will 


22  FLY  FRAMES  §25 

cause  the  shoulder  /?,  to  swing  in  a  similar  direction  and  thus 
transmit  to  /  a  like  movement,  but  in  an  opposite  direction. 
The  downward  movement  of  h^  causes  the  shoulder  //,  to 
swing  to  the  left,  and  j  to  swing  to  the  right.  In  doing  so,  the 
arm  j-,  forces  the  pawl  e^  out  of  contact  with  the  ratchet  e  and 
allows  the  weight  g  to  rotate  the  vertical  shaft  d  until  the 
pawl  e^  engages  with  the  ratchet  e;  since  e^  and  e^  are  connected 
by  the  spring  e^,  which  has  a  tendency  to  draw  them  together, 
€.,  will  therefore  engage  with  the  ratchet  e  after  it  has  turned 
half  a  tooth.  The  rotation  of  the  shaft  d  will  communicate 
motion  to  the  rack  y^  by  means  of  the  gear  y,,  thus  moving  the 
belt  along  the  cones  for  a  short  distance.  At  the  same  time, 
the  gear  <?,  will  move  the  poker  bar  slightly  to  the  left,  thus 
bringing  the  stud  .r,  nearer  the  cradle  a;  consequently,  on  the 
next  traverse  the  setscrew  a^  will  force  down  the  lever  k^  when 
the  carriage  has  moved  a  shorter  distance  than  on  its  previous 
traverse.  Attached  to  j^  is  an  arm  p  that  is  centered  at  P-,. 
Connected  to  the  lower  end  of  this  arm  is  a  rod  q  that  is 
jointed  to  the  shaft  carrying  the  twin  gears.  As  j^  is  forced 
one  way  or  the  other  by  the  action  of  the  cradle  h,  it  swings 
the  arm  p,  which,  acting  on  the  rod  q,  causes  the  opposite  twin 
gear  to  engage  and  thus  reverses  the  direction  of  motion  of 
the  carriage.  

METHODS    OF    DRIVING     BOBBIN    SHAFTS 

14.  Horse-Head  Motion. — Referring  again  to  Fig.  1,  it 
will  be  remembered  that  the  gear  //s,  which  is  carried  by  a 
sleeve  on  the  jai:k-shaft  m,  drives,  by  means  of  the  inter- 
mediate gear  //*,  the  gear  h^  on  the  end  of  the  back  bobbin 
shaft.  An  important  point  to  be  noted  in  connection  with 
this  drive  is  that  the  jack-shaft,  which  carries  the  gear  h^, 
revolves  constantly  in  the  same  position,  while  the  gear  //, 
on  the  bobbin  shaft,  which  is  driven  from  the  gear  Ju,  is 
receiving  a  vertical  reciprocating  motion,  since  the  shaft 
carrying  this  gear  forms  a  part  of  the  bobbin  carriage; 
consequently,  some  special  device  must  be  adopted  to  keep 
the  three  gears  h^,  h^,  h,  constantly  in  mesh  with  each  other. 
Fig.  1  shows  simply  a  diagrammatic  view  of  the  gearing  of 


§25 


FLY  FRAMES 


23 


a  fly  frame,  and  consequently  the  device  adopted  in  this 
connection  is  not  shown;  but  by  referring  to  Fig.  9  the 
method  adopted  to  compensate  for  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
bobbin  shaft  can  be  understood.  This  construction,  which  is 
very  frequently  adopted  on  fly  frames,  is  commonly  known  as 
the  liorse-head  motion.  The  three  gears  //s,  //«,  //,  corre- 
spond to  the  same  gears  in  Fig.  1.  Swinging  loosely  on  the 
bearing  that  carries  the  jack-shaft  m  is  an  arm  z  that  carries 
at  its  other  end  a  stud  on  which  the  intermediate  gear  h^ 
revolves.     Swinging  loosely  on  this  same  stud  is  an  arm  z^ 


Fig.  9 

that  is  attached  at  its  opposite  end  to  the  bearing  of  the  back 
bobbin  shaft,  on  which  shaft  is  the  gear  //a.  This  connection 
is  similar  to  that  between  the  arm  z  and  the  bearing  of  the 
jack-shaft.  Since  the  length  of  the  two  arms  is  always  con- 
stant and  this  length  is  just  sufficient  to  allow  the  teeth  of 
the  three  gears  to  mesh  properly,  it  will  readily  be  seen 
that  as  the  bobbin  shaft  rises  and  falls  it  will  necessarily 
take  the  intermediate  gear  with  it  and  hold  it  in  the  correct 
position  for  the  teeth  of  the  three  gears  to  mesh  properly. 

15.  Vertical  and  Angle  Shaft  Motion. — Another 
method  of  obtaining  the  same  result  is  shown  in  Figs.  10 
and   11;    it   is   known   as   the    vertical    and    angle    sliaft 

motion.  The  parts  of  this  motion  are  as  follows:  A  ver- 
tical shaft  a  extends  from  the  under  side  of  the  roll  beam 
almost  to  the  floor,  having  its  lower  end  pointed  and  resting 
in  a  footstep  and  its  upper  end  resting  in  a  bearing  that  is 


24 


FLY  FRAMES 


§25 


secured  by  bolts  to  the  under  side  of  the  roll  beam.  On  this 
shaft  is  a  sleeve  b  that  extends  into  the  gear-box  at  the  head 
of  the  carriage  and  is  supported  by  a  bracket  c  and  flange  b,. 


Fig. 10 


The  sleeve  b  is  key-seated  to  the  vertical  shaft,  and  conse- 
quently as  the  shaft  revolves  will  receive  a  rotary  motion;  it 


25 


FLY  FRAMES 


25 


is,  however,  free  to  be  moved  up  and  down  on  the  shaft  a 
as  may  be  desired.  It  will  be  seen  from  the  construction 
that  as  the  carriage  receives  its  traversing  motion  it  takes 
with  it  the  sleeve  b,  fastened  to  which  is  a  gear  d  that  gears 
into  the  gear  e  on  the  back  bobbin  shaft.  Setscrewed  to  the 
upper  end  of  the  vertical  shaft  <7  is  a  bevel  gear  /  receiving 
motion  from  the  bevel  gear  g  at  the  upper  end  of  the  angle 


Fig.  11 


shaft  //.  At  the  lower  end  of  this  angle  shaft  is  another 
bevel  gear  driven  by  the  beveled  bobbin  gear  h^  on  a  sleeve 
on  the  jack-shaft.  By  this  means  the  vertical  shaft  a,  which 
receives  motion  from  the  jack-shaft  through  the  train  of 
gears  just  described,  is  constantly  imparting  motion  to  the 
gear  d  on  the  sleeve  b,  although  this  sleeve  traverses  up  and 
down  the  shaft  together  with  the  bobbin  rail. 


26  FLY  FRAMES  §25 


STOP-MOTIONS 

16.  The  full-bobbin  stop-motion  of  a  fly  frame  is 
very  simple  and  is  found  on  most  fly  frames.  The  shipper 
rod  a,  Fig.  12  {a),  extends  the  entire  length  of  the  frame  and 
passes  through  the  eye  of  the  knock-off  lever  d,  which  is 
pivoted  to  a  bracket  attached  to  the  roll  beam.  The  knock- 
oflf  lever  carries  an  arm  d^  that  supports  a  heavy  weight  d^, 
while  near  the  lower  part  of  the  lever  is  pivoted  a  knock-off 
latch  c  that  passes  through  an  opening  in  one  of  the  samp- 
sons;  this  Sampson  carries  a  bracket  r,  that  is  engaged  by  a 
slot  in  the  latch,  thus  holding  the  latch  in  position.  The 
rack  d,  which  carries  the  belt  guide  e,  also  has  a  knock-off 
dog  dr  attached  to  it  by  means  of  a  setscrew.  A  perspective 
view  of  this  knock-off  dog  is  shown  in  Fig.  12  (b). 

During  the  building  of  the  bobbin  the  cone  belt  is  moved 
along  the  cones  by  the  movement  of  the  rack,  which  moves 
slightly  toward  the  foot  end  of  the  frame  at  the  completion 
of  each  traverse.  When  the  bobbins  have  become  full  the 
belt  is  at  the  small  end  of  the  top  cone  and  the  rack  has 
moved  some  distance  to  the  right;  consequently,  on  account 
of  the  position  of  the  knock-off  dog  on  the  rack,  this  dog 
passes  under  the  knock-off  latch  and  raises  it,  thus  allowing 
the  weight  di  to  throw  the  upper  end  of  the  knock-off  lever  d 
to  the  left  so  that  it  strikes  the  ball «,  attached  to  the  shipper 
rod.  As  the  lever  continues  its  movement  it  moves  the 
shipper  rod  toward  the  head  end  of  the  frame  and  ships  the 
driving  belt  from  the  tight  to  the  loose  pulley. 

The  frame  can  be  set  to  knock  off  whenever  the  bobbins 
have  attained  their  correct  size.  This  is  accomplished  by 
moving  the  knock-off  dog  on  the  rack  so  that  it  will  pass 
under  the  latch  and  release  it  when  the  bobbins  are  of  the 
desired  size. 

17.  A  great  deal  of  trouble  and  bad  work  results  on  fly 
frames  from  the  cone  belt  breaking.  In  Fig.  12  (a)  a  patent 
knock-off  motion  is  shown,  which  stops  the  frame  and  at  the 
same  time  prevents  the  ends  from  breaking  down  at  the  front 


28  FLY  FRAMES  §25 

when  the  cone  belt  breaks.  The  lower  cone  is  supported  by 
a  frame  that  swings  on  the  back  shaft  /  and  is  capable  of 
being  raised  or  lowered;  the  shaft  /  is  the  one  that  imparts 
motion  to  the  racks  that  actuate  the  carriage.  The  chains  g,gi 
and  the  rod  g^  form  a  connection  between  one  of  the  bearings 
of  the  bottom  cone  and  the  knock-off  latch.  The  shipper  e 
carries  two  belts  ^,,  e^.  The  wide  belt  e^  is  the  main  cone 
belt  and  is  used  to  drive  the  bottom  cone.  The  belt  e^  is  a 
little  longer  than  <?i,  so  that  it  will  not  come  in  contact  with 
the  bottom  cone  when  the  frame  is  running  properly.  When 
the  belt  ^,  breaks,  the  lower  cone  falls  until  it  comes  in  con- 
tact with  the  auxiliary  belt  e^,  which  is  long  enough  to  allow 
the  lower  cone  to  drop  sufficiently  to  release  the  latch  c  by 
means  of  the  chain-and-rod  connection.  When  the  latch  c  is 
released  the  knock-off  lever  forces  the  shipper  rod  toward  the 
head  of  the  frame,  so  that  the  belt  is  moved  from  the  tight 
to  the  loose  pulley.  The  auxiliary  belt  keeps  the  lower  cone 
in  motion  until  the  frame  has  stopped,  and  thereby  prevents 
the  ends  from  breaking  down  at  the  front. 


CREEL 

18.  Although  the  slubber  has  been  taken  to  illustrate  the 
construction  of  fly  frames,  it  will  be  found  that  the  descrip- 
tions given  will  apply  equally  well  to  any  of  the  machines 
grouped  under  the  head  of  fly  frames.  Outside  of  the  differ- 
ence in  the  size  of  the  parts  of  the  different  frames,  the  only 
noticeable  difference  between  the  slubber  and  the  other 
frames  is  in  the  manner  of  feeding  the  cotton  at  the  back. 
As  the  slubber  takes  the  sliver  from  the  cans  that  are  filled 
at  the  drawing  frames,  these  cans  are  placed  behind  the  slub- 
ber in  a  similar  manner  to  that  adopted  at  the  drawing  frames 
and  other  machines  to  which  the  cotton  is  fed  from  cans.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  roving  comes  to  the  later  fly  frames  on 
bobbins,  and  it  is  consequently  necessary  to  provide  some 
means  by  which  these  bobbins  may  be  supported  and  yet 
allowed  to  revolve  freely  as  the  roving  is  being  unwound 
from  them.     Any  arrangement  in  cotton-mill  machinery  that 


Pig.  13 


30 


FLY  FRAMES 


§25 


serves  to  support  bobbins  or  spools  is  generally  termed  a 
creel.  Fig.  13  shows  the  creel,  together  with  other  parts, 
of  a  first  intermediate  fly  frame.  The  creel  consists  of  a 
framework  that  extends  the  entire  length  of  the  machine  at 
the  back  and  is  built  up  of  the  required  number  of  wooden 
rails  a,  a^,  a^,  a,,  which  are  supported  by  brackets  d  that  are 
setscrewed  to  the  rods  c  and  are  capable  of  being 
adjusted  up  or  down  in  order  to  have  the  desired 
space  between  any  two.  On  their  upper  sides  the 
rails,  with  the  exception  of  the  top  ones,  carry  glass 
cups,  or  steps,  while  directly  over  each  cup  is  a  metal 
eye  d  fastened  to  the  rail  above.  The  rods  c  to  which 
the  brackets  d  are  setscrewed  are  supported  by  brack- 
ets e  bolted  to  the  roll  beam;  these  rods,  in  addition 
to  carrying  the  brackets  d,  also  support  small 
brackets  /  through  which  the  rod  £■  passes.  This  rod 
serves  as  a  guide  for  the  roving  as  it  is  unwound 
from  the  upper  bobbins. 

In  placing  the  full  bobbins  in  the  creel  wooden 
skewers  are  used.  These  skewers  are  shown  at  A, 
Fig.  13,  a  skewer  alone  being  shown  in  Fig.  14. 
They  are  slightly  longer  than  the  bobbins  and,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  13,  pass  completely  through  them,  the 
lower  end  of  each  skewer  resting  in  the  cup  on  the  top 
of  the  rail,  while  its  upper  end  passes  through  the  eye 
inserted  in  the  edge  of  the  rail  above.  A  shoulder  at 
the  lower  end  of  the  skewer  prevents  the  bobbin 
from  dropping  below  this  position,  and  as  it  is  prac- 
tically only  the  friction  of  the  bottom  point  of  the 
skewer  in  the  glass  cup  that  must  be  overcome,  the 
bobbins  revolve  with  a  minimum  of  resistance. 
The  top  of  the  creel  is  of  sufficient  width  to  sup- 
port full  bobbins,  and  it  is  the  custom  to  place  them  side  by 
side  and  from  two  to  three  tiers  high  along  the  entire  top  of 
the  creel.  This  provides  for  a  sufficient  number  of  full  bob- 
bins to  take  the  place  of  those  already  in  the  creel  when  they 
become  empty. 


Fig.  14 


FLY  FRAMES 

(PART  3) 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FLY  FRAMES 


CALCULATIONS 

1.  In  connection  with  fly  frames  there  are  numerous 
calculations  that  it  is  necessary  to  understand.  Many  of 
these  refer  to  speeds  and  drafts,  on  which  general  informa- 
tion and  rules  have  been  given  in  dealing  with  mechanical  and 
draft  calculations;  examples  of  all  necessary  calculations  are 
given  in  this  Section,  but  the  rules  dealing  with  speeds  and 
drafts  are  omitted.  The  examples  apply  to  the  gearing 
shown  in  Fig.  1,  and  to  a  bobbin-lead  type  of  frame. 

Example  1. — Find  the  speed  of  the  jack-shaft  when  the  main  shaft 
makes  300  revolutions  per  minute  and  carries  a  20-inch  pulley  driving 
a  16-inch  pulley  on  the  jack-shaft. 

300  X  20       „„.  •        f  •     1     u   f.       A 

Solution. —    — —  =  3/5  rev.  per  mm.  of  ]ack-shaft.     Ans 

lb 

Example  2. — Find  the  revolutions  per  minute  of  the  top-cone  shaft 
when  the  jack-shaft  makes  375  revolutions  per  minute  and  carries  a 
38-tooth  twist  gear  driving  a  48-tooth  gear  on  the  top-cone  shaft. 

375  X  38 

Solution. —    — —  =  296.875  rev.  per  min.  of  top-cone  shaft. 

48 

Ans. 

Example  3. — Find  the  revolutions  per  minute  of  the  front  roll  when 
the  top-cone  shaft  makes  296.875  revolutions  per  minute  and  carries  an 
86-tooth  gear  driving  a  120-tooth  gear  on  the  front-roll  shaft.  • 

296.875X86        „^^  _  .  . 

Solution.—     r-^- =  212. /6  rev.  per  ram.     Ans. 

I^or  notice  of  copyright,  see  page  immediately  following  the  title  page 
§26 


^^  I J 


§26  FLY  FRAMES  3 

Example  4. — Find  the  length  of  roving  delivered  per  minute  by  the 
front  roll  when  it  is  1.25  inches  in  diameter  and  makes  212.76  rev- 
olutions per  minute. 

212.76X1.25X3.1416       „  ^^^     .  .  . 

Solution. —    ^-, =  23.208  yd.  per  mm.     Ans. 

DO 

Example  5. — Find  the  number  of  revolutions  of  the  spindles  to 
1  revolution  of  the  jack-shaft  when  the  jack-shaft  carries  a  42-tooth 
gear  driving  a  42-tooth  gear  on  the  spindle-gear  shaft,  which  carries  a 
46-tooth  gear  driving  a  24-tooth  gear  on  the  lower  end  of  the  spindle. 

1  X  42  X  46 

Solution. —    — r;^ —  =  1.916  rev.  of  spindles  to  1  rev.  of  jack- 

42  X  24 

shaft.     Ans. 

Example  6. — Find  the  revolutions  per  minute  of  the  spindles  when 
the  jack-shaft  makes  375  revolutions  per  minute  and  the  spindles  make 
1.916  turns  to  one  of  the  jack-shaft. 

Solution. —    375  X  1.916  =  718.5  rev.  per  min.  of  spindles.     Ans. 

2.     To  find  the  twist,  or  turns,  per  inch: 

Rule  \.— Divide  the  revohitions  per  minute  of  the  spindles  by 
the  lejigth  of  rovijigy  in  inches,  delivered  by  the  frojit  roll  in  the 
sa7)ie  time. 

Ex.\mple  1. — Find  the  turns  per  inch  being  placed  in  the  roving  if 
the  spindles  make  718.5  revolutions  per  minute  and  the  front  roll 
delivers  23.208  yards  per  minute. 

Solution.—  23.208  X  36  =  835.488  in.  per  min.;  718.5  -^  835.488 
=  .859  turn  per  in.     Ans. 

Rule  II. — Taking  i^ito  coiisideration  all  the  gears,  with  the 
exception  of  the  carrier  gears,  ff^om  the  front  roll  to  the  spindles, 
assume  that  the  front-roll  gear  is  a  driver.  Multiply  together 
all  driving  gears  aiid  divide  by  the  product  of  all  the  driven 
gears.  Divide  the  guotiejit  thus  obtained  by  the  circumference  of 
the  fro7it  roll. 

Ex.\mple  2. — Find  the  turns  per  inch  being  inserted  in  the  roving 
with  the  following  arrangement  of  gears:  the  front  roll  is  1.25  inches 
in  diameter;  front-roll  gear  has  120  teeth;  gear  on  end  of  top-cone 
shaft,  86  teeth;  top-cone  gear,  48  teeth;  twist  gear,  38  teeth;  jack-shaft 
gear,  42  teeth;  spindle-shaft  gear,  42  teeth,  gear  on  spindle-shaft  dri- 
ving spindle,  46  teeth;  gear  on  spindle,  24  teeth. 

120  X  48  X  42  X  46       „  „„„  3.378 

Solution.-  -^^^^^^^^^,^^^^-  =  3.3/8;  YMx^Jim  ''  '^^  ^"^" 
per  in.     Ans. 


4  FLY  FRAMES  §26 

3.  To  find  the  constant  for  twist: 

Rule. — Apply  ride  II,  in  Art.  2,  tor  {i?idhig  the  twist,  con- 
sidering the  twist  gear  as  a  1-tooth  gear. 

ExAMPLK — Find  the  constant  for  twist,  using  the  train  of  gearing 
given  in  example  2  in  Art.  2  for  finding  the  twist. 

^  120  X  48  X  42  X  46        i„q  o^n  128.372 

Solution.-    -86xO<l2x2r  =  l'^'^^^;  1.05  x  3.1416  =  ^'•^^^- 

constant  dividend  for  twist.     Ans. 

The  constant  dividend  divided  by  the  twist  gear  equals  the  twist 

per  inch;  thus,  32.689  -^  38  =  .86,  twist  per  in.     Ans. 

4.  To  find  the  speed  of  the  bobbins: 

Rule. — Find  the  amoimt  of  roving  ivound  on  the  bobbins  per 
mimcte  and  divide  by  the  circjimference  of  the  bobbifi.  Add  the 
result  thus  obtained  to  the  speed  of  the  spindles  per  minute,  and 
the  atiswer  is  the  speed  of  the  bobbins  per  minute. 

Example  1. — Find  the  speed  of  the  bobbins  at  the  beginning  of  a 
set  when  the  diameter  of  the  bobbin  is  1.75  inches;  the  speed  of  the 
spindles,  718.5  revolutions  per  minute;  and  the  front  roll  delivers 
835.488  inches  per  minute. 

835  488 
Solution. —    r-=^ — '     .,,-,,,  =  151.967  rev.  per  min.  of  bobbins  over 
1.75  X  3.141b 

speed  of  spindles.     Speed  of  the  spindles,  718.5  rev.  per  min.;  speed 

of  bobbins  over  that  of  the  spindles,  151.967.     718.5  +  151.967  =  870.467, 

speed  of  bobbins  at  beginning  of  set.     Ans. 

Example  2. — Find  the  speed  of  the  bobbins  at  the  finish  of  a  set 
when  the  diameter  of  the  full  bobbin  is  6.125  inches;  the  speed  of  the 
spindles,  718.5  revolutions  per  minute;  and  the  front  roll  delivers 
835.488  inches  per  minute. 

835  488 
Solution.—    »  ^^i  J.  o  -.A^a  ~  43.419  rev.  per  min.  of  the  bobbins 

over  the  spindles.  The  number  of  revolutions  per  minute  of  the 
spindles  is  718.5;  the  speed  of  the  bobbins  over  that  of  the  spindles  is 
43.419.  718.5  +  43.419  =  761.919  rev.  per  min.  of  bobbins  at  the  finish 
of  a  set.     Ans. 

The  reduction  of  the  speed  per  minute  of  the  bobbins 
from  an  empty  bobbin  to  a  full  bobbin  in  the  above  case  is 
870.467  -  761.919  =  108.548  revolutions. 

5.  Drafts. — The  draft  of  a  fly  frame  is  calculated  in  the 
usual  manner. 


§26  FLY  FRAMES  5 

Example  1.— Find  the  total  draft  of  the  rolls  shown  in  Fig.  1,  using 

a  44  draft  gear. 

1.25  X  100  X  56       Q  Q-7    .  .  1  ^     ..       A 
Solution. —    — .,  ^^  , .  ^^  , —  =  3.9^7,  total  draft.     Ans. 
40  X  44  X  1 

The  constant  for  draft  is  found  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  total  draft,  except  that  the  draft  gear  is  considered  as  a 
1-tooth  gear. 

Example  2. — Find  the  draft  constant  for  the  rolls  shown  in  Fig.  1. 

1.25  X  100  X  56       _^  ^  ^       . 

Solution. —    — —r —  —  lib,  constant.     Ans. 

4U  X  1  X  1 

Example  3. — Find  the  draft  between  the  second  and  third  rolls. 

1  X  25 

Solution. —    ~ =  1.086,  draft  between  second  and  third  rolls. 

Zo  X  1 

Ans. 

Example  4. — Find  the  draft  between  the  front  and  second  rolls  if 
the  draft  gear  contains  44  teeth. 

1.25  X  100  X  56  X  23        o  .>r^      ^     r     ,. 
Solution. —    — <r>  ..  <■  ..  or  ..  -• —   =  3.659,    draft    between    front 
40  X  44  X  25  X  1 

and  second  rolls.     Ans. 

6.  Cliaiige  Gears. — In  addition  to  the  calculations  given 
there  are  several  in  connection  with  fly  frames  that  apply- 
particularly  to  the  gears  that  should  be  used  to  produce 
satisfactory  work.  It  will  readily  be  understood  that  if  a 
frame  is  running  on  a  certain  hank  roving  and  it  is  desired 
to  change  to  a  different  hank,  certain  gears  must  be  changed 
in  order  that  correct  results  may  be  obtained.  In  changing 
from  one  hank  to  another  some  or  all  of  the  following  gears 
must  be  altered  (the  reference  letters  apply  to  Fig.  1): 
(1)  the  twist  gear  ;;?3,  which  alters  the  speed  of  the  rolls 
and  regulates  the  t.urns  per  inch  placed  in  the  roving;  (2)  the 
tension  gear  js,  which  regulates  the  movement  of  the  belt 
along  the  cones;  (3)  the  draft  gear  /,  which  alters  the  hank 
of  the  roving  delivered;  (4)  the  taper  gear  x^,  which  alters 
the  taper  of  the  bobbin;  (5)  the  lay,  or  traverse,  gear  zu, 
which  alters  the  speed  of  the  traverse  of  the  carriage. 

These  are  the  American  names  for  these  gears;  the  English 
builder  motion  is  different  from  the  American  and  the 
English  name  for  tension  gear  is  rack  wheel,  for  taper  gear 
is  taper  wheel,  and  for  lay  gear  is  lifter  wheel. 


6  FLY  FRAMES  §26 

The  most  important  change  to  make  is  in  the  draft  change 
gear,  which  regulates  the  size  of  the  roving.  It  is  generally 
customary  at  the  same  time  to  change  the  twist  gear,  because 
this  should  vary  with  every  change  in  the  hank  of  the  roving. 
The  tension  gear  is  also  frequently  changed.  It  is  not  custom- 
ary, however,  to  change  the  lay  gear  unless  the  change  in 
the  hank  of  the  roving  is  extensive.  If  the  slubber  roving  is 
changed  .3  hank,  the  first  intermediate  roving  .5  hank,  the 
second  intermediate  roving  .75  hank,  or  the  finished  roving 
a  whole  hank,  the  lay  gear  will  ordinarily  be  changed. 

It  is  seldom  that  the  taper  gear  is  changed  in  the  mill, 
since  the  gear  that  is  placed  on  the  frame  by  the  builders 
usually  serves  for  the  range  of  different  hank  roving  that  the 
frame  is  intended  to  make. 

It  is  important  to  bear  in  mind  whether  an  increase  or 
decrease  in  the  size  of  a  gear  must  be  made  to  produce 
certain  results.  On  the  usual  construction  of  American-built 
frames,  in  making  a  change  to  produce  finer  work  the  draft 
gear,  the  twist  gear,  the  lay  gear,  and  the  tension  gear  would 
be  changed  to  smaller  gears;  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  frame 
must  be  changed  to  make  coarser  work,  they  would  be 
changed  for  larger  gears,  if  required  to  be  changed  at  all. 

The  same  statement  is  correct  with  regard  to  English-built 
frames,  or  American-built  frames  having  an  English  type  of 
builder,  with  the  exception  of  the  tension  gear,  which  in  case 
of  changing  the  frame  finer,  would  be  changed  to  a  gear 
having  a  larger  number  of  teeth,  or  in  case  of  changing  the 
frame  coarser,  to  a  gear  having  a  smaller  number  of  teeth. 

The  following  rules  apply  to  the  method  of  figuring  the 
different  change  gears  when  the  gears  that  are  on  the  frame 
and  the  hank  roving  being  produced  are  known.  From  the 
calculations  previously  given  it  is  possible  to  obtain  the  draft 
and  twist  gears  without  this  data,  but  for  the  tension  and  lay 
gears  this  data  is  always  necessary,  since  the  correct  gear 
for  starting  up  a  frame  was  obtained  by  the  builders  largely 
by  experiment  and  not  by  calculation.  Even  when  the  gear 
to  use  for  a  certain  hank  roving  is  known,  the  calculated 
gear   for    another  hank  does   not   always    give   satisfactory 


1 


§26  FLY  FRAMES  7 

results,  since  the  changing  of  these  gears  is  largely  a  matter 
of  experience  and  observation,  owing  to  a  number  of  dif- 
ferent points  affecting  the  results  produced  b\^  them,  such  as 
the  amount  of  twist  put  in  the  roving,  the  condition  of  the 
cone  belt,  the  number  of  times  that  the  roving  is  wound 
around  the  presser  on  the  flyer,  and  so  forth. 

7.  To  find  the  draft  gear  to  be  used  for  a  certain  hank 
roving  when  the  draft  gear  that  is  on  and  the  hank  roving 
that  it  produces  are  known: 

Rule. — Multiply  the  draft  gear  being  used  by  the  hank 
roving  that  it  produces^  and  divide  the  result  by  the  hank  roving 
that  is  to  be  made. 

Example. — If  4-hank  roving  is  being  produced  with  a  32-tooth  draft 
gear,  what  draft  gear  will  a  6-hank  roving  require? 

Solution.—  32  X  4  =  128;  128  ^  6  =  21.333,  or  practically  a 
21-tooth    draft    gear.     Ans. 

8.  To  find  the  twist  gear  to  be  used  for  a  certain  hank 
roving  when  the  twist  gear  that  is  on  and  the  hank  roving 
that  is  produced  are  known: 

Rule. — Multiply  the  square  root  of  the  hank  being  made  by 
the  twist  gear,  a7id  divide  by  the  square  root  of  the  hank  required. 

In  examples  in  which  the  diameter  of  the  roving  affects 
the  size  of  the  gear  to  be  used  it  is  necessary  to  consider  the 
square  roots  of  the  hanks,  since  the  diameters  of  rovings 
vary  inversely   as  the    square  roots  of   their   hanks. 

Example. — If  .36-hank  roving  is  being  made  with  a  54-tooth  gear, 
what  twist  gear  is  required  for  a  .64-hank? 

Solution.—  -^m  -  .6;  \C64  =  .8;. 6  X  54  =  32.4;  32.4  ^  .8  =  40.5. 
Either  a  41-tooth  or  a  40-tooth  gear  may  be  used.     Ans. 

9.  To  find  the  tension  gear  to  be  used  for  a  certain  hank 
roving  when  the  tension  gear  that  is  on  and  the  hank  roving 
that  is  produced  are  known,  the  frame  having  the  American 
type  of  builder: 

Rule. — Multiply  the  sqtiare  root  of  the  hank  being  made  by  the 
tension  gear,  and  divide  by  the  sqjiare  root  of  the  ha^ik  required. 


8  FLY  FRAMES  §26 

Example. — If  .36-hank  roving  is  being  made  with  a  50-tooth  tension 
gear,  what  tension  gear  is  required  for  a  .64-hank? 

Solution.—  V^6  =  .6;  V764  =  .8;  .6  X  50  =  30;  30  -=-  .8  =  37.5. 
Either  a  37-tooth  or  a  38-tooth  gear  may  be  used.    Ans. 

To  find  the  tension  gear  to  be  used  for  a  certain  hank 
roving  when  the  tension  gear  that  is  on  and  the  hank  roving 
that  is  produced  are  known,  the  frame  having  the  English 
type  of  builder: 

Rule. — Multiply  the  square  root  of  the  hank  required  by 
the  iensio?i  gear,  a?id  divide  by  the  sqtcare  root  of  the  hank 
being  made. 

Example. — If  .36-hank  roving  is  being  made  with  a  20-tooth  tension 
gear,  what  tension  gear  is  required  for  a  .64-hank? 

Solution.—  V73'6  =  .6;  4m  =  .8;  .8  X  20  =  16;  16  -^  .6  =  26.666. 
A  27-tooth  gear  would  be  used.     Ans. 

10.  To  find  the  lay  gear  to  be  used  for  a  certain  hank 
roving  when  the  lay  gear  that  is  on  and  the  hank  roving  that 
is  produced  are  known: 

Rule. — Multiply  the  square  7'oot  of  the  hank  being  made  by 
the  lay  gear,  and  divide  by  the  square  root  of  the  hank 
reqtdred. 

Example. — If  .36-hank  roving  is  being  made  with  a  33-tooth  gear, 
what  lay  gear  is  required  for  a  .64-hank? 

Solution.—  <M  =  .6;  \^  =  .8;  .6  X  33  =  19.8;  19.8  ^  .8  =  24.75. 
A  25-tooth  gear  should  be  used.     Ans. 

11.  Production. — To  find  the  production  of  a  fly 
frame,   in    pounds: 

Rule. — Multiply  the  hanks  per  spiiidle,  as  indicated  by  the 
hank  clock,  by  the  member  of  spindles,  and  divide  by  the  hank 
roving. 

Example. — A  clock  on  a  72-spindle  frame  registers  75  hanks  of 

.5-hank    roving    turned    off  in    a  week.     What   is   the  production  in 

pounds? 

75  X  72 
Solution. — ^ —  =  10,800  lb.  production.     Ans. 


§26  FLY  FRAMES  9 

12.  Average  Hank.— To  find  the  average  hank,  or 
average  number,  of  the  roving  when  several  hanks  are 
being  run: 

^xx\Q.— Multiply  the  Pounds  of  each  hank  produced  by  the 
number  of  the  hank,  and  divide  the  total  of  the  products  thus 
obtained  by  the  total  of  the  poimds  produced. 

ExAMPLE.-If  1,800  pounds  of  .50-hank,  700  pounds  of  1.50-hank 
850  pounds  of  2-hank,  800  pounds  of  2.25-hank,  750  pounds  of  4-hank' 
and  700  pounds  of  10-hank  are  produced  in  a  week,  what  is  the  average 
hank  of  the  roving?  ^ 

Solution. — 

1800X  .5  0=  900 

700X  1.5  0=  1050 

8  5  0  X  2.0  0  =  17  0  0 

8  0  0  X  2.2  5  =  18  0  0 

750X  4.0  0=  3000 

700  X  1  0.0  0  =  7  0  0  0 

Total,  5  6  0  0  pounds  15  4  5  0  hanks 

15,450  -  5,600  =  2.758,  average  hank.     Ans. 


STARTING     FLY     FRAMES 

13.     Draft.— In    starting    fly    frames,    one    of    the    first 
points  to  be  considered  is  the  arrangement  of  the  drafts  in 
the  different  frames.      As  a  general  rule,  the  drafts  in  the 
mtermediate  frames  should  be  less  than  the  draft  in  the  roving 
frame  and  slightly  greater  than  that  in  the  slubber.     It  is  not 
always  possible,  however,  to  arrange  a  series  of  fly  frames 
so  as  to  give  the  best  theoretical  drafts,  since  one  process 
must  keep  up  with  another,  and  it  is  customary  for  those  in 
charge   to    change    the    drafts    until   the  production  of   one 
nicely  balances  that  of  the  other;  that  is,  if  the  slubbers  are 
making  too  many  bobbins  for  the  intermediates,  the  draft 
of  the  slubber  is  increased  so  as  to  make  a  finer  roving,  and 
the  draft  in  the  intermediates  decreased  because  finer  r'o'ving 
IS  fed  at  the  back,  thus  making  the  same  hank  at  the  fron't 
as  in  the  former  case  but  using  a  greater  length  of  back 
roving.     Speaking  generally,  it  may  be  said  that  on  coarse 
work  or  in  mills  making  below  36s  yarn  it  is  best  to  arrancre 


10  FLY  FRAMES  §26 

the  draft  of  the  slubber  about  4,  intermediate  about  5,  and 
the  roving  frame  about  6.  The  following  is  an  organization 
used  when  starting  fly  frames  for  28s  warp  and  36s  filling. 
A  55-grain  sliver  at  the  drawing  frame  (equal  to  about 
.151  hank)  and  4.5  draft  at  the  slubber  gives  .68-hank 
slubbing;  5.5  draft  at  the  intermediate,  doubling  2^  gives  a 
1.87-hank  roving;  and  a  6.5  draft  at  the  roving  frame,  doub- 
ling 2,  gives  a  6.07-hank  roving.  Other  organizations  are  as 
follows:  For  a  4.5-hank  roving  at  the  roving  frame,  a  .5-hank 
roving  is  usually  produced  at  the  slubber  and  a  1. 5-hank 
roving  at  the  intermediate,  with  a  draft  of  6  at  both  the 
intermediate  and  roving  frames.  For  a  10-hank  roving,  the 
following  are  good  drafts:  slubber,  4;  first  intermediate,  4.5; 
second  intermediate,  5;  roving  frame,  5.  For  a  20-hank 
roving,  the  following  are  good  drafts:  slubber,  4.5;  first 
intermediate,  5;  second  intermediate,  6;  roving  frame,  6.5. 

In  connection  with  the  drafts  in  the  different  fly  frames, 
an  important  point  always  to  be  taken  into  consideration  is 
the  production  that  different  drafts  will  give.  In  making  any 
change  of  hank,  it  should  be  clearly  understood  that  chan- 
ging to  finer  roving  means  reduced  production,  not  only  on 
account  of  the  reduced  weight  per  yard  of  the  roving,  but 
also  because  the  speed  of  the  front  roll  must  be  reduced  in 
order  to  obtain  the  extra  twist  that  is  required  for  the  finer 
hank.  Sometimes  the  experiment  is  tried  of  putting  a 
small  pulley  on  the  frame  so  as  to  bring  the  speed  of  the 
front  roll  up  to  the  original  speed  and  increase  the  speed 
of  the  spindles,  but  this  is  not  often  advisable,  as  too  great 
speed  makes  the  work  run  badly  and  consequently  reduces 
the  production. 

14.  Tavist. — Having  obtained  the  correct  drafts  for  the 
different  frames,  the  next  important  point  to  be  considered 
is  the  twist  to  be  placed  in  the  roving.  In  this  connection, 
it  should  be  distinctly  understood  that  the  amount  of  twist 
in  the  roving  depends  on  the  relation  that  the  speed  of  the 
spindles  bears  to  that  of  the  front  rolls.  Twist  may  be 
increased  in  roving  either  by  decreasing  the  speed  of    the 


§26 


FLY  FRAMES 


11 


delivery  rolls  or  increasing  the  speed  of  the  spindles.  The 
spindles  of  each  kind  of  fly  frames  in  a  mill  are  usually  run 
at  a  certain  number  of  revolutions  per  minute,  which  has  been 
found  most  desirable  in  practice,  and  any  great  increase  over 
this  number  causes  the  work  to  run  badly.  On  this  account, 
whenever  it  is  desired  to  insert  more  twist  in  the  roving,  it 
is  the  usual  practice  to  decrease  the  speed  of  the  front  rolls. 
This,  however,  decreases  the  production  of  the  frame,  and 
consequently  no  more  twist  should  be  placed  in  the  roving 
than  is  absolutely  necessary  to  allow  it  to  draw  off  well  at 
the  next  process  without  stretching  and  breaking.  Not  only 
does  any  twist  above  this  amount  decrease  the  production, 
but  it  also  makes  the  roving  draw  badly  and  is  liable  to 
damage  the  leather  top  rolls  on  the  next  frame.  The  amount 
of  twist  placed  in  roving  varies  according  to  the  hank  being 
produced  and  the  stock  being  used.  It  has  been  found  prac- 
tical to  insert  a  number  of  turns  per  inch  that  is  equal  to  the 
product  of  the  square  foot  of  the  hank  and  certain  numbers 
used  as  constants.  The  following  table  gives  the  constants 
that  are  commonly  used  for  American,  Egyptian,  and  sea- 
island  cotton  on  the  slubber,  first  intermediate,  second  inter- 
mediate, and  roving  frames. 


TABLE     I 


Cotton 

Slubber 

First 
Inter- 
mediate 

Second 
Inter- 
mediate 

Roving 
Frame 

American  .    .    . 
Egyptian   .    .    . 
Sea-island  •   .    . 

I.O 

•9 

•7 

I.I 

1.0 

.8 

1.20 
1. 10 

.90  to  .95 

1.3 
1.2 
1.0 

It  is  generally  assumed  that  a  good  test  for  determining 
whether  sufficient  twist  is  being  placed  in  the  roving  is  to 
feel  each  bobbin  to  see  that  it  is  not  too  hard  or  too  soft, 
although  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  a  hard  bobbin  may 
be  formed  from  roving  having  less  than  the  standard  twist  if 
a  presser  with  a  heavy  vertical  rod  is  used. 


12  FLY  FRAMES  §26 

15.  Speed. — It  has  been  stated  that  the  spindles  on  fly 
frames  are  run  at  a  uniform  speed,  but  in  this  connection  it 
may  be  well  to  consider  what  speeds  are  best  for  the  different 
frames.  The  speed  of  the  spindles  on  a  slubbing  frame  may 
slightly  exceed  600  revolutions  per  minute;  on  a  first  inter- 
mediate frame  900  revolutions  per  minute  is  a  good  speed; 
on  a  second  intermediate,  1,200;  and  on  a  roving  frame, 
1,500  revolutions  per  minute.  These  speeds,  of  course,  are 
often  exceeded  in  many  mills.  In  some  cases  it  would  be 
more  accurate  to  give  the  speeds  at  800,  1,000,  1,300,  and 
1,600  revolutions,  respectively,  for  the  four  machines. 
Experience,  however,  has  demonstrated  that  in  fly  frames 
high  speeds,  particularly  when  the  cotton  is  not  up  to  the 
standard,  are  objectionable.  No  definite  number  of  revolu- 
tions per  minute  can  be  given  for  the  spindles  of  fly  frames, 
since  this  is  dependent  largely  on  circumstances.  It  may 
sometimes  be  advisable  to  run  more  slowly  than  the  speeds 
given  above,  since  old  frames,  coarse  work,  or  inferior  stock 
will  necessitate  slower  speeds  than  new  frames,  fine  work, 
or  good  stock. 

When  once  the  correct  ratio  of  speed  between  the  front 
roll  and  the  spindle  has  been  found,  the  only  way  of  increas- 
ing production  is  to  increase  the  speed  of  the  whole  frame. 
Theoretically,  every  time  the  frame  is  speeded  up  the  produc- 
tion ought  to  increase,  although  in  practice  this  is  not  found 
to  be  so,  since  there  is  a  limit  to  the  speed  of  every  machine 
beyond  which  it  is  not  advisable  to  go,  because  an  excessive 
speed  causes  unnecessary  wear  and  tear  to  take  place  and 
results  in  a  large  number  of  ends  breaking;  this  is  an  espe- 
cially important  matter  in  connection  with  fly  frames,  since 
the  whole  frame  must  be  stopped  to  piece  one  broken  end. 

16.  Build  of  Bobbin. — After  deciding  on  the  draft  to 
be  used  in  the  frame  and  the  number  of  turns  per  inch  to  be 
inserted  in  the  roving,  a  few  bobbins  may  be  placed  in  the 
creel,  considering  that  one  of  the  frames  other  than  the 
slubber  is  being  dealt  with.  The  ends  of  roving  from  two 
bobbins  are  passed  through  the  drawing  rolls  and  pieced  at 


§26  FLY  FRAMES  13 

the  front.  One  layer  should  then  be  run  on  the  bobbin  and 
the  length  of  traverse  adjusted  so  as  to  obtain  a  layer  of  as 
great  a  length  as  possible  without  the  finger  of  the  presser 
striking  the  ends  of  the  bobbin.  The  proper  lay  gear  may 
also  be  chosen  at  this  point.  In  order  to  obtain  a  well-built 
bobbin,  the  coils  in  the  first  layer  should  be  laid  so  that  the 
wood  of  the  bobbin  can  barely  be  seen  between  them.  Should 
the  first  experimental  bobbin  show  the  coils  either  closer  or 
farther  apart  than  this,  the  lay  gear  should  be  changed 
accordingly.  The  correct  lay  gear  is  largely  a  matter  of  exper- 
iment and  experience,  and  different  millmen  have  different 
ideas  as  to  the  correct  gear  that  should  be  used.  For  accurate 
work,  it  is  advisable  to  count  the  number  of  coils  per  inch 
that  are  made  on  the  bare  bobbin,  when  satisfactory  results 
are  obtained,  for  various  hanks  of  roving.  From  these  records 
a  table  of  constants  can  be  prepared,  which  can  be  used  for 
reference.  It  is  found  in  practice  that  the  most  suitable 
number  of  coils  per  inch  varies  from  seven  to  ten  times  the 
square  root  of  the  hank  roving  being  produced,  the  smaller 
multiplier  being  used  for  slubbers  and  intermediates  and 
the  larger  one  for  roving  frames.  For  example,  in  case  of 
making  4-hank  roving,  the  square  root  of  which  is  2,  if  10  is 
used  as  a  multiplier,  20  coils  per  inch  will  be  placed  on  the 
bare  bobbin.  Other  factors  enter  into  the  question  as  to  the 
spacing  of  these  coils;  for  instance,  the  amount  of  twist 
placed  in  the  roving,  the  grade  of  cotton  being  used,  and 
whether  the  stock  has  been  carded  or  both  carded  and  combed, 
all  have  an  effect  on  the  number  of  coils  per  inch  that  can 
be  advantageously  placed  on  the  bobbin. 

17.  Tension. — By  referring  to  Fig.  1,  it  will  be  noted 
that  on  the  end  of  the  bottom  cone  is  a  gear  driving,  by 
means  of  suitable  gearing,  a  gear  on  the  compound.  When 
starting  up  a  new  frame,  it  should  be  carefully  noted  whether 
the  roving  is  running  at  the  correct  tension;  and  if  it  is  not, 
this  cone  gear  should  be  changed  until  the  right  tension  is 
obtained.  A  gear  of  fewer  teeth  will  drive  the  bobbins  more 
slowly,  causing  less  tension  on  the  ends,  while  a  gear  of 


14  FLY  FRAMES  §26 

more  teeth  has  the  opposite  effect.  In  some  cases,  instead 
of  changing  the  cone  gear,  the  proper  tension  is  obtained  by 
starting  the  belt  at  a  different  position  on  the  cones.  This, 
however,  is  not  good  practice  and  should  not  be  allowed. 
The  belt  should  always  be  started  at  the  end  of  the  cones 
when  winding  the  first  layer  on  the  bobbin,  and  the  cone  gear 
be  of  such  size  as  to  give  the  proper  tension  with  the  belt  in 
this  position.  This  cone  gear  should  be  changed  only  when 
the  frame  is  being  started  for  the  first  time,  and  after  the 
correct  gear  has  once  been  obtained  it  should  not  be  changed 
unless  the  diameter  of  the  empty  bobbin  is  changed.  It  is 
very  important  to  have  the  tension  properly  adjusted,  since 
a  difference  of  from  10  to  15  per  cent,  in  the  weight  of  the 
roving  on  the  full  bobbin  may  be  made  by  not  having  the 
correct  cone  gear,  besides  causing  the  frame  to  produce 
unsatisfactory  work. 

18.  Creelinjr. — After  the  different  gears  have  been  put 
on  and  the  length  of  the  traverse  has  been  adjusted,  the  frame 
may  be  considered  ready  for  starting  up.  The  next  process  is 
creeliiijr;  that  is,  placing  the  bobbins  of  roving  in  the  creel 
at  the  back  of  the  frame  and  passing  the  ends  of  roving  from 
them  to  the  rolls.  In  this  connection,  it  is  important  to  note 
that  all  the  bobbins  placed  in  the  creel  at  one  time  should  not 
be  of  the  same  size,  since  in  this  case  they  would  all  become 
empty  at  about  the  same  time  and  thus  cause  the  tender  to 
replace  empty  bobbins  with  full  ones  in  so  short  a  period  of 
time  that  it  would  either  necessitate  stopping  the  frame  or 
result  in  certain  bobbins  running  empty  before  full  bobbins  had 
been  put  in  their  place.  In  creeling,  it  is  good  practice  to  put 
up  two  rows  of  full  bobbins  and  two  rows  of  half-filled  bob- 
bins, having  the  roving  from  one  full  and  one  half-filled 
bobbin  run  together,  thus  causing  only  a  part  of  the  bobbins 
to  become  empty  at  one  time  and  obviating  the  difficulty  that 
arises  when  the  bobbins  all  run  empty  at  the  same  time. 

Other  points  to  be  noted  in  creeling  are  that  bobbins 
should  not  be  inserted  that  will  touch  the  next  bobbin,  since 
this  prevents  the  easy  unwinding  of  the  roving.     Sometimes 


§26  FLY  FRAMES  15 

bobbins  unwind  too  freely,  resulting  in  what  is  known  as 
overrunning.  To  prevent  this  a  little  piece  of  cotton  is 
sometimes  inserted  under  the  foot  of  the  skewer  to  cause 
friction  and  thus  retard  the  rotation  of  the  bobbin.  On  the 
other  hand,  bobbins  containing  roving  that  is  too  soft  are 
sometimes  placed  in  the  creel  at  the  back  of  the  frame,  in 
which  case  the  roving  breaks  instead  of  unwinding.  To 
remedy  this  difficulty  the  skewers  are  taken  out  and  sharp- 
ened at  the  bottom  so  as  to  lessen  the  friction. 

19.  Having  pieced  up  all  the  ends,  the  frame  may  be 
started.  During  the  time  that  the  first  set  is  being  filled  the 
different  parts  of  the  frame  should  be  carefully  watched,  espe- 
cial notice  being  taken  of  the  tension  on  the  roving  and  the 
build  of  the  bobbin.  Frames  vary  somewhat  in  their  capacity 
for  making  a  w'ell-built  bobbin,  but  as  a  rule  the  taper  of  the 
ends  of  a  full  bobbin  should  not  be  too  great,  since,  if  the 
slant  is  too  great,  it  prevents  the  winding  of  a  sufficient 
length  of  roving  on  the  bobbin  and  necessitates  too  fre- 
quent creeling  at  the  succeeding  processes.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  ends  of  the  bobbin  should  not  be  built  in  such  a 
manner  that  they  will  be  almost  at  right  angles  with  the  bob- 
bin, since  in  this  case  the  ends  are  liable  to  run  under  during 
winding  and  thus  cause  unnecessary  breakage  of  ends. 


CARE  OF  FliY  FRAMES 

20.  Sinsrle  and  Double. — After  the  frames  have  been 
well  started,  several  points  in  the  management  need  careful 
attention.  Perhaps  the  most  important  points  are  what 
are  technically  known  as  sinarle  and  double.  These  may  be 
caused  in  several  different  w^ays.  For  example,  in  fly  frames 
'that  follow  the  slubber,  where  two  ends  are  run  into  one  at 
the  back,  it  frequently  happens  that  only  one  end  passes 
through  the  guide  eye  of  the  traverse  rod,  while  the  end  that 
should  be  joined  to  this  one  runs  through  a  guide  eye  with 
two  other  ends;  thus,  instead  of  having  two  ends  in  each 
case,  in  one  case  there  will  be  a  single  end  and  in  the 
other,     three    ends.       Again,     it    frequently    happens     that 


16  FLY  FRAMES  §26 

certain  of  the  ends  as  they  leave  the  delivery  rolls  at  the 
front  of  the  frame  break,  and  the  strong  current  of  air  set  up 
by  the  rapidly  revolving  flyers  causes  these  ends  to  become 
twisted  in  with  an  end  running  on  to  another  bobbin.  If  the 
tender  does  not  notice  this  at  the  time  it  occurs,  there  is  a  lia- 
bility of  several  layers  of  roving  being  wound  on  the  bobbin 
that  contain  double  the  thickness  that  they  should.  In  still 
other  cases,  when  an  end  breaks  as  it  comes  from  the  delivery 
roll,  it  may  happen  that  only  part  of  the  roving  is  twisted  in 
with  the  adjoining  end,  while  the  other  part  winds  around 
one  of  the  rolls,  forming  what  is  called  a  roll  lap.  All 
these  cases  occur  frequently  on  fly  frames  and  are  the 
cause  of  bad  work.  As  will  be  seen,  when  double,  which  is 
greater  than  the  required  size,  for  the  reasons  just  given,  is 
wound  on  the  bobbin,  the  diameter  of  the  bobbin  will  be 
increased  out  of  its  regular  proportion,  thus  causing  the 
roving  to  be  strained;  while  on  the  other  hand,  in  case  of 
single,  which  is  less  than  the  required  size,  the  diameter  of 
the  bobbin  is  not  increased  in  its  correct  proportion,  causing 
the  roving  to  run  slack.  When  single  or  double  occurs  on  fly 
frames,  it  is  necessary  for  the  tender  to  stop  the  frame  and 
unwind  the  defective  roving  from  the  bobbin.  In  some  cases 
so  much  imperfect  roving  has  been  wound  on  the  bobbin  that 
the  correct  diameter  of  the  bobbin  cannot  be  obtained  in  that 
set.  It  then  becomes  necessary  to  break  out  the  ends  fed  to 
it,  thus  causing  a  spindle  to  be  unproductive  throughout  the 
filling  of  the  rest  of  the  set,  and  consequently  the  production 
of  the  frame  to  be  lessened.  This  is  a  practice  that  should 
not  be  allowed,  and  tenders  should  be  required  to  watch  their 
frames  carefully  for  single  or  double  rovings  and  correct  the 
defect  immediately.  If  the  single  or  double  roving  is  not 
removed  from  the  bobbin,  it  passes  forwards  to  the  next 
process  and  there  working  in  with  a  perfect  end  produces 
roving  or  yarn  of  the  wrong  number. 

21.  Piecing:. — The  piecing  of  roving,  when  broken  at 
the  front,  is  accomplished  as  follows:  The  frame  is  stopped 
and  the  tender  unrolls  an  arm's  length  of  roving  from  the 


§26  FLY  FRAMES  17 

bobbin,  twisting  it  slightly  by"  rolling  it  between  the  palms  of 
the  hands  in  order  to  give  it  greater  strength.     The  roving 
is  then  inserted  in  the  hollow  leg  of  the  presser  by  holding 
the  loose  end  in  one  hand  and  with  the  other  hand  sliding  the 
roving  along  the  slot  in  the  side  of  the  leg.     That  part  of 
the  roving  that  passes  from  the  bottom  of  the  hollow  leg  to  the 
bobbin  is  now  wound  around  the  presser  as  many  times  as 
necessary  and  inserted  in  the  eye  of  the  presser,  while  the 
upper,  or  loose,  end  is  passed  partly  around  the  boss  of  the 
flyer,  through  the  hole  in  the  side  of  the  boss,  out  at  the  top, 
and  overlapped  and  twisted  with  the  roving  projecting  from 
the   front  roll.     In   piecing   the   roving  by  twisting  in  this 
manner  long  piecings  should  be  avoided,  since  they  cause 
the  yarn  to  be  too  thick  for  some  distance.     Moreover,  hard 
piecings  should  be  avoided,  since  they  do  not  draw  well  in 
the  drawing  rolls  of  the  next  process.     After  a  piecing  has 
been  made,  the  frame  is  started  slowly;  very  frequently  it 
will  be  found  that  the  end  will  remain  slack  for  some  time. 
In  such  cases  it  is  sometimes  the  practice  for  the  tender  to 
retard  the  motion  of  the  top  front  roll  by  pressing  it  with 
the  finger  or  thumb,  in  order  to  cause  the  roving  to  become 
tight.     This    is    not    advisable,   however,   as    it    causes    the 
roving  for  some  distance  to  be  thicker  than  usual;  it  is  pref- 
erable to  so  adjust  the  bobbin  before  starting  the  frame  that 
there  will  be  as  little  slack  as  possible. 

22.  Doffing. — After  a  set  of  bobbins  has  been  filled,  it 
becomes  necessary  to  remove  the  full  bobbins  and  replace 
them  with  empty  ones.  This  is  known  as  doffing,  and 
before  the  frame  is  stopped  for  this  operation  everything 
that  is  possible  should  be  done  to  lessen  the  time  to  be 
devoted  to  this  operation,  since  it  causes  a  loss  of  produc- 
tion. Such  points  as  having  the  empty  boxes  ready  for  the 
full  bobbins  must  be  looked  out  for  before  stopping  the 
frame;  also  where  it  is  possible,  as  in  the  case  of  the  slubber 
or  first  intermediate,  the  empty  bobbins  should  be  laid  on 
the  carriage  of  the  frame  between  the  spindles,  so  that  they 
will  be  ready  to  be  placed  on  the  spindles.     The  operation 


18  FLY  FRAMES  §26 

is  then  as  follows:  After  the  frame  has  stopped,  the  cone 
belt  is  slackened  by  raising  the  bottom  cone,  so  as  to  reduce 
the  speed  of  the  bobbin — when  the  frame  is  started  again — 
to  the  same  speed  as  the  flyer  and  thus  prevent  any  more 
roving  from  being  wound  on  the  bobbin;  the  frame  is  then 
run  for  an  instant  in  order  to  cause  a  few  coils  of  roving  to 
form  at  the  top  of  the  flyer.  The  front  row  of  flyers  is  then 
taken  off  and  laid  on  the  top  of  the  top  clearer  covers,  care 
being  taken  not  to  break  the  ends  of  the  roving.  The  full 
bobbins  are  then  removed  from  the  front  row. of  spindles 
and  each  replaced  by  two  empty  bobbins,  the  bottom  one 
being  intended  to  remain  on  the  front  spindles  and  the  other 
to  be  subsequently  placed  on  the  back  spindles.  After 
doffing  the  front  row  of  spindles,  the  tender  doffs  the  back 
row  of  spindles  by  lifting  the  flyer,  and  replacing  the  full 
bobbin  with  the  extra  empty  bobbin  previously  placed  on  the 
front  row  of  spindles.  The  flyers  for  the  front  row  of 
spindles  are  then  placed  in  position.  The  end  of  roving  is 
now  laid  on  each  bobbin  and  wound  around  in  such  a  way 
that  the  outside  coils  will  bind  the  inner  ones,  the  coils  of 
roving  previously  formed  at  the  top  of  the  flyer  giving  suf- 
ficient length  to  wind  around  the  bobbins  to  make  a  new 
start.  The  cone  belt  is  wound  back  to  the  other  end  of  the 
cones  by  means  of  the  rack  and  tightened  by  lowering  the 
bottom  cone,  when  the  frame  is  ready  to  start. 

23.  Breaking  Out. — In  some  cases,  where  a  very  radical 
change  is  made  in  the  number  of  the  yarn  to  be  spun  from 
the  roving,  it  becomes  necessary  to  make  a  considerable 
change  in  the  hank  of  the  roving  being  produced  by  the 
different  frames.  When  any  considerable  change  is  made  in 
fly  frames,  it  is  generally  the  custom  to  run  the  bobbins  that 
are  in  the  creel  until  half  of  them  are  almost  empty  and  then 
remove  all  the  bobbins  from  the  creel,  working  them  up  in 
other  frames.  The  creels  are  refilled  with  new  bobbins  of 
the  correct  hank,  care  being  taken  that  half  of  them  are  half 
bobbins  and  that  the  other  half  are  full  bobbins,  and  the 
ends  from  these  new  bobbins  pieced  up  to  the  ends  of  the 


§26  FLY  FRAMES  19 

old  roving  projecting  from  the  back  roll.  These  piecings 
should  be  run  through  to  the  front  and  on  to  a  set  of  empty 
bobbins,  after  which  the  short  lengths  should  be  removed 
from  the  bobbins  so  as  to  avoid  any  piecings  or  incorrect 
roving  going  forwards  to  the  next  process.  This  entire 
operation  is  technically  known  as  breaking  out  and  is  an 
expensive  process,  since  it  is  one  that  reduces  production 
very  largely;  in  many  mills  it  is  customary  when  making 
only  a  small  change,  say  from  4-hank  to  5-hank  or  from 
10-hank  to  12-hank,  to  do  so  by  merely  changing  the  neces- 
sary gears,  thus  avoiding  this  process. 

24.  Oiling. — In  order  to  keep  the  machines  in  good 
condition,  oiling  should  be  carefully  attended  to;  in  large 
mills,  there  is  usually  some  person  who  makes  the  oiling  of 
machines  his  sole  occupation.  In  small  mills,  it  should  be 
in  charge  of  one  of  the  section  hands  and  not  left  to  the 
tender.  The  rolls  or  gearing  revolving  at  about  the  same 
speed  as  the  front  roll  should  be  oiled  every  day;  the  bearings 
of  the  top  and  bottom  cones,  the  jack-shaft,  the  horse  head, 
certain  parts  of  the  compound,  and  all  bearings  around  the 
compound,  about  twice  a  day.  About  once  a  month,  the  com- 
pound should  be  opened  up — that  is,  slipped  apart — and  oiled 
and  cleaned.  When  high  speeds  are  employed,  tallow  should 
be  used  on  the  internal  gears  of  the  compound.  The  amount 
of  oiling  required  by  the  spindle  footsteps  depends  on  their 
construction,  but  should  be  done  at  least  once  a  month,  while 
the  upper  bearings,  or  bolsters,  should  be  oiled  about  once 
a  day.  All  revolving  parts  not  mentioned  should  be  oiled  at 
least  once  a  week. 

25.  Care  of  Rolls. — The  bottom  drawing  rolls  on  fly 
frames  should  be  scoured  at  least  once  in  6  months. 

The  replacement  of  old  top  rolls  with  new  ones  is  an  impor- 
tant matter,  and  it  is  usual  to  allow  so  many  rolls  a  week  per 
frame  or  per  hundred  spindles  in  the  room.  This  is  something 
for  which  no  definite  rule  can  be  given,  as  the  condition  of 
the  frames,  the  care  of  the  rolls,  the  stock  being  run,  and  the 
hank  of  the  roving  all  make  a  difference  as  to  the  number  of 


20  FLY  FRAMES  §26 

rolls  that  should  be  allowed.  Generally  speaking,  coarse 
roving  requires  more  rolls  than  fine  roving,  and  old  frames 
more  rolls  than  new  frames.  In  one  mill  on  medium  num- 
bers, it  is  customary  to  allow  three  new  rolls  weekly  to  each 
slubber  and  each  intermediate  frame,  and  four  new  rolls 
weekly  to  each  roving  frame.  In  this  connection,  it  should 
be  understood  that  the  number  of  spindles  in  a  roving  frame 
is  about  double  that  in  a  slubber. 

When  solid  top  rolls  are  used,  the  rolls  that  are  taken  out 
of  the  front  row  should  be  moved  to  the  second  row  and  the 
rolls  from  the  second  row  moved  to  the  back  row,  the  rolls 
in  the  back  row  being  taken  out  to  be  recovered.  In  case 
the  front  rolls  are  shell  rolls,  which  is  usual  with  fly  frames 
constructed  at  the  present  time,  new  shells  replace  the  old 
ones  that  are  taken  out  to  be  recovered,  while  new  rolls  are 
placed  in  the  second  row  and  the  rolls  taken  out  of  the  second 
row  placed  in  the  back  row,  the  rolls  in  the  back  row  being 
taken  out  to  be  recovered.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  front 
rolls  revolve  at  a  much  greater  speed  than  the  back  rolls  and 
that  the  larger  part  of  the  drafting  is  accomplished  between 
the  two  front  pairs  of  rolls,  it  is  possible  to  run  poorer  rolls 
on  the  back  row  without  injuring  the  stock. 

26.  In  order  to  obtain  the  best  results  on  fly  frames,  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  that  all  parts  should  be  kept  as  clean  as 
possible.  The  creels  should  be  brushed  out  twice  every  day 
and  flyers  should  be  wiped  at  every  doflE  when  running 
medium  counts;  when  running  fine  roving,  this  should  be 
done  even  more  frequently.  Twice  a  week  the  head-end 
covers  should  be  taken  off  and  the  gearing  cleaned.  About 
once  a  month,  the  covers  should  be  taken  off  the  spindle 
and  bobbin  gears  and  all  the  waste  picked  off  the  gears 
and  shafts.  The  head  of  the  flyer  should  be  kept  clean  and 
also  the  slot  in  the  top  of  the  spindle,  so  that  the  pin 
will  fit  accurately  in  it.  Particular  care  should  be  taken  to 
keep  the  rolls,  roll  beams,  and  clearers  clean.  If  the  steel 
rolls  are  allowed  to  become  dirty  or  lapped  with  cotton  they 
will   produce  bad  work,   frequently  resulting  in  lumpy  and 


§26  FLY  FRAMES  21 

uneven  roving  and  causing  the  ends  to  break  at  the  succeed- 
ing processes.  In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  the  floors  of 
the  room  should  be  kept  clean.  Waste  should  be  put  in  its 
proper  place  and  not  allowed  to  drop  on  the  floor.  Boxes 
and  baskets  should  be  provided  for  the  empty  and  full  bob- 
bins, and  should  always  be  kept  in  their  proper  places. 


COMMON    DEFECTS 

27.  The  following  are  some  of  the  defects  frequently 
met  with  in  fly  frames,  together  with  their  remedies: 

1.  Breaking  oi  ends  between  the  front  roll  and  the  bob- 
bins sometimes  results  from  the  following  causes:  twist 
gear,  draft,  or  other  roll  gears  slipping  or  breaking;  top- 
cone  gear  slipping;  cones  becoming  loose;  cone  belt  break- 
ing; rolls  breaking  at  the  joints;  spindle-  or  bobbin-shaft 
couplings  becoming  loose;  driving  gears  at  the  head  of  the 
bobbin  or  spindle  shafts  breaking  or  becoming  loose;  bob- 
bin, bobbin-shaft,  spindle,  or  spindle-shaft  gears  breaking 
or  becoming  loose;  any  obstruction  preventing  the  proper 
traverse  of  the  carriage. 

2,  Slack  ends  on  American-built  frames  are  sometimes 
caused  by  the  tension  gear  being  too  large.  In  trying  the 
tension  of  the  roving  it  is  customary  to  place  the  forefinger 
under  the  roving  as  it  is  being  delivered  from  the  front  roll 
to  the  flyer  and  draw  it  up  slightly  until  it  is  tight,  judging 
the  tension  in  this  way.  A  better  way  is  to  get  the  eye  on 
a  level  with  the  flyer  and  by  glancing  from  the  boss  of  the 
flyer  to  the  front  roll  note  the  slackness  in  the  roving.  If 
there  is  not  quite  enough  tension,  the  roving  will  run  all  right 
for  a  short  length  of  time,  but  will  then  partially  curl  around 
the  boss  of  the  flyer,  afterwards  running  along  all  right  again. 
If  a  greater  amount  of  tension  is  needed,  the  roving  will  wind 
round  the  boss  of  the  flyer  and  break,  although  this  is  some- 
times caused  by  the  end  breaking  in  the  flyer.  The  tension 
of  the  roving  is  an  important  matter  and  should  be  carefully 
watched  at  all  times,  as  there  are  several  points  that  will 
affect  it.     For  example,  the  cone  belt  may  slip  because  it  is 


22  FLY  FRAMES  §26 

too  slack  or  too  heavily  loaded;  because  the  spindle  bolsters 
are  not  properly  oiled  or  are  allowed  to  become  clogged  with 
dirt  or  cotton;  because  the  bolsters  are  not  properh^  adjusted 
or  are  not  plumb,  thus  causing  the  bolster  rail  to  run  hard;  or 
because  the  racks  bind  in  the  slides.  As  the  lifting  motion 
is  driven  through  the  cones,  any  drag  on  the  bobbin  rail  is 
liable  to  cause  the  belt  to  slip  and  thus  afiEect  the  tension. 

3.  Incorrect  Traverse. — Sometimes  the  clutch  gear  between 
the  twin  gears  becomes  loose  or  has  been  set  wrong,  in 
which  case  there  will  either  be  no  traverse  given  to  the 
carriage  or  the  traverse  will  be  imperfect  and  the  roving 
that  is  being  delivered  will  be  wound  on  the  bobbin  in  one 
place,  thus  producing  a  ridge  on  the  bobbin. 

4.  Rzinyiing  over  and  under  of  the  roving  on  the  bobbins 
is  a  serious  defect,  and  every  means  should  be  adopted  to 
prevent  it.  The  following  are  some  of  the  precautions  that 
should  be  taken:  All  gears  from  builder  to  carriage  must 
be  in  their  places  and  firm  on  their  individual  studs  and 
shafts.  The  spring  at  the  bottom  of  the  tumbling  shaft 
must  exert  its  proper  tension.  If  it  has  not  enough  tension 
to  pull  the  tumbling  shaft  around  so  that  the  teeth  on  the 
gear  fixed  at  its  upper  end  come  in  contact  with  the  top-cone 
gear,  it  will  cause  either  running  over  or  under  of  the  roving. 
The  clutch  gear  situated  between  the  twin  gears  must  be 
tight  and  properly  adjusted;  the  twin  gears  must  also 
be  properly  adjusted  and  tight  on  their  shaft.  Running 
over  or  under  is  also  frequently  caused  by  the  carriage  not 
being  perfectly  level  during  its  entire  traverse.  Individual 
bobbins  are  spoiled  by  the  bobbins  not  being  correctly  fitted 
or  not  resting  properly  in  their  places.  At  times  the  pin 
breaking  in  the  boss  of  the  flyer  will  cause  the  roving  to  run 
under  or  over  either  because  of  the  flyer  settling  down  or 
because  of  centrifugal  force  causing  the  flyer  to  rise. 

5.  Imperfect  Flyers. — It  is  very  important  that  flyers  should 
be  smooth  inside  and  outside  at  all  points  where  cotton  passes 
and  should  fit  well  on  the  tops  of  the  spindles  so  as  to  obviate 
the  necessity  of  hammering  them  down  and  thus  making  them 
rough  at  the  top.     When  the  presser  on  the  flyer  leg  works 


§26  FLY  FRAMES  23 

stiffly  and  consequently  does  not  exert  enough  centripetal 
pressure  on  the  bobbin,  it  causes  soft  bobbins  and  a  weak 
roving  that  will  often  break  when  being  unwound  at  the 
next  process,  thus  causing  annoyance  and  bad  spinning  at 
the  final  operation. 

6.  When  the  small  bevel  gear  that  drives  the  bobbins  is 
not  properly  meshed  with  the  bobbin  gear,  or  when  either 
gear  is  worn,  it  will  cause  the  bobbin  to  jump  and  will 
break  the  end  or  stretch  the  roving.  This  may  be  obviated 
by  having  a  systematic  inspection  of  these  gears  and  requir- 
ing that  such  cases  be  reported  at  once.  Sometimes  the 
same  effect  is  produced  when  a  bobbin  shaft  is  crooked  or 
strained,  or  when  a  section  of  the  shaft  works  loose  and 
slides  slightly  in  its  bearings.  In  this  case  it  will  affect 
several  bobbins.  The  same  is  also  true  of  the  spindles,  in 
which  case  the  spindles  will  jump  up  and  down,  instead  of 
the  bobbins. 

Sometimes  the  help  after  neglecting  to  piece  up  an  end 
promptly,  find  that  the  bobbin  is  too  small  in  diameter  to 
take  up  all  the  roving  that  has  been  delivered  by  the  rolls. 
In  order  to  remedy  this  and  not  to  be  blamed  for  running 
an  empty  spindle,  they  will  pack  cotton  under  the  weight 
hook  to  cause  extra  friction  on  the  top  roll  and  reduce  its 
speed,  or  they  will  hold  the  top  roll  with  one  thumb  to 
attain  the  same  object.  This  causes  two  or  four  ends  to  be 
heavier  than  the  others  that  are  being  made,  to  the  extent 
of  as  much  as  30  or  40  per  cent,  for  a  short  distance,  which 
obviously  causes  undue  variation  in  the  numbers  of  the  yarn  at 
the  spinning  room. 

SIZING 

28.  It  is  customary  to  test  the  numbers  of  roving,  or  in 
other  words  to  size  rovinf^,  by  reeling  of?  a  standard  length 
from  bobbins.  The  length  usually  taken  in  case  of  slubber 
and  first  intermediate  roving  is  12  yards;  for  second  inter- 
mediate or  fine  roving,  24  j^ards.  The  bobbin  is  placed  on  a 
skewer  in  a  frame  usually  adjustable  for  large  or  small  bob- 
bins, the  end  passed  through  a  guide  eye  to  the  reel,  which  is 


24  FLY  FRAMES  §26 

18  or  36  inches  in  circumference,  and  the  desired  length 
measured  off.  When  this  is  done  the  end  is  broken,  the 
roving  weighed  on  a  small  pair  of  scales  known  as  roving 
scales,  and  the  hank  of  the  roving  calculated. 

In  some  cases  the  roving  is  sized  at  the  drawing  frame, 
while  in  other  cases  the  slubber  is  taken  as  the  starting 
point;  the  roving  delivered  is  weighed  two  or  sometimes 
three  times  a  day,  two  bobbins  being  taken  from  a  doff. 
Twelve  yards  are  reeled  off  each  bobbin  and  weighed  and  the 
average  taken.  If  the  average  varies  considerably  either  way 
from  the  correct  weight  of  that  number  of  yards  of  the  hank 
being  made,  the  draft  gear  is  changed.  These  averages  are 
kept  in  a  special  book  for  this  purpose,  which  can  be  referred 
to  at  subsequent  dates.  The  bobbins  from  frames  finer  than 
the  slubber  are  weighed  generally  once  a  day,  two  or  even 
more  bobbins  being  taken  from  each  frame.  Where  there  is 
a  difference  from  the  standard  of  22  grains  in  hanks  from 
1.5  to  4,  or  a  difference  of  2  grains  in  hanks  from  4  to  12,  a 
change  is  made.  After  the  roving  has  been  weighed,  in  mills 
where  a  high  standard  is  maintained,  a  certain  number  of 
bobbins,  usually  16,  of  the  different  hanks  of  roving  is  taken 
to  the  spinning  room  and  the  yarn  made  from  them  sized  and 
tested  for  strength,  a  record  being  made  and  a  copy  sent  to 
the  overseer  of  carding.  This  is  the  method  adopted  in  fine- 
yarn  mills;  in  other  mills,  the  bobbins  are  not  sized  so  often. 

Care  should  be  taken  in  selecting  the  bobbins  to  be  sized 
that  they  contain  no  single  or  double.  Where  more  than 
one  frame  is  on  a  certain  hank  or  grade  of  work,  the  differ- 
ent frames  should  be  sized  in  their  turn.  If  the  gear  on  one 
frame  is  changed  on  a  certain  hank  or  grade  of  work,  all  the 
frames  running  under  similar  conditions  should  be  changed. 
This  not  only  applies  to  roving  frames,  but  to  all  machines  in 
a  mill  where  changes  must  be  made. 

There  are  various  systems  of  keeping  numbers  and  various 
limits  set  for  the  number  of  grains  that  roving  should  be 
allowed  to  vary  from  either  side  of  the  standard  before 
changing  the  draft  gear.  The  one  explained  may  be  taken 
as  a  basis. 


INDEX 


Note.— All  items   in   this   index  refer  first  to  the  section  and  then  to  the  pagre  of  the 
section.    Thus,  "Brush  18    25"  means  that  brush  will  be  found  on  page  25  of  section  18. 


Adjusting  points 

screw,  Evener 

the  nipper  rods 

Adjustments,  Beater  and  feed- 
roll 

Air-current,  Regulation  of 

America,  Cotton  used  in 

American  and  British  wires  .   .   .   . 

cotton 

type  of  builder 

Angle  shaft  and  vertical  motion  . 

Apron,  Lifting 

Arboreum.  Gossypium 

Arrangement  of  drawing  frame  .   . 

machines 

Automatic  feeder 


Average  hank.  Rule  to  find  .   .   .   . 
B 

Back  knife  plate 

Setting  the    .   .    . 

Bale  breaker 

breakers.   Care   of 

Baling  and  ginning  cotton 

cotton 

Barbadense,   Gossypium 

Barrel.  Central 

Bars,  Grid 

Inclined  cleaning 

grate 

Beater,  Action  of  the 

and  feed-roll  adjustments 

Doflfer 

Beaters.  Types  of 

Blocks,  Distance  of.  from  bearings 

of  detaching  roll 

Bloom  of  cotton 

Bobbin,  Build  of 

The 

Winding  the  roving  on  the 


Sec. 

Pa^ee 

20 

21 

17 

35 

23 

12 

17 

34 

17 

39 

14 

12 

19 

13 

14 

13 

25 

16 

25 

23 

16 

20 

14 

1 

21 

IS 

16 

14 

16 

17 

16 

26 

26 

9 

18 

19 

19 

67 

16 

10 

16 

13 

14 

16 

14 

26 

14 

1 

22 

22 

17 

11 

17 

14 

17 

14 

17 

10 

17 

34 

16 

23 

17 

8 

'>3 

20 

14 

30 

26 

12 

24 

12 

24 

17 

Sec.  Page 


Bobbins,  Mechanisms  for  control- 
ling speed  of 25 

Method  of  driving  the  .   .  24 
"          Rule  to  find  the  speed  of 

the 26 

shafts.  Methods  of  driv- 
ing    25 

Traverse  of 24 

Bolster,  The 24 

Bottom  rolls 20 

Box,   Comb 18 

Scale 17 

Breaker,  Bale 16 

Floor  space  of  a  ...   .  17 

picker 17 

Draft  of  a  ...   .  17 

pickers 17 

Breakers,  Care  of  bale 16 

Breaking  of  ends 26 

out 26 

British  and  American  wires  .    ...  19 

Brown  Egyptian  cotton 14 

Brush 18 

and  hackle  comb 19 

Burnishing 19 

tin 22 

Builder,  American   type  of  ....  25 

English  type    of 25 

motions 25 

Build  of  bobbin 26 

Burnishing 19 

brush 19 


Cage  sections 17 

Calculations,  Card  cloth 19 

Change  gear 26 

relating  to  fly  frames  26 

Speed 18 

Calender  rolls 22 

"      Smooth 17 


Vll 


VIU 


INDEX 


Cam-shaft 

Capacity  of  automatic  feeders  .    . 

Carborundum  wheel 

Card  cloth   calculations 

clothing 

English    method    of 

numbering    .   .   .    . 

Noggs  and  points  in 

construction 


cylinders 

frame 

gearing 

Grinding  a  new 

Production  of  the  ... 
Roller-and-clearer  .  .  . 
room,   Management   of 

Setting  the 

Carding 

beater , 

Double 

Cards,  Care  of 

Cotton 


Dimensions  of 

Method  of  clothing    .... 

Stripping     

Weight  and  horsepower  of 

Care  of  cards 

drawing  frame 

feeders 

f^y  frames 

"  machinery,  Proper    .   .    .   . 

"  pickers 

"  rolls 

Causes  of  uneven  laps 

Central  barrel 

stock 

Change  gear  calculations 

gears    


Chisel-point  wire     

Chute,  Waste 

Classification     and     selection    of 

cotton 

Cleaning  and  oiling  pickers  .... 
the  comber  .   . 

bars,  Inclined 

the  stripping  roll     .    .    .    . 

Clearer-and-roller  card 

Clearers  and  traverse  motions    .   . 

Clocks,  Hank 

Cloth  covering.  Method  of  putting 


Sec. 
22 
16 
19 
19 
19 

19 
19 
18 
19 
18 
18 
18 
19 
18 
19 
19 
19 
18 
17 
19 
19 
18 
19 
19 
18 
19 
19 
18 
19 
21 
16 
26 
19 
17 
26 
17 
22 
22 
26 
17 
25 
19 
22 


on 


Roller 


Pase 
20 
27 
55 
15 
9 

20 
19 

3 

1 

16 
26 
33 
46 
42 

5 
70 
56 

1 


29 
1 
1 
29 
42 
22 
32 
42 
29 
38 
27 
15 
73 
39 
19 
40 
22 
22 
5 
37 
19 
12 
25 

27 
42 
28 
14 
35 
5 
33 
15 


Sec.  Page 

Clothing,  Card 19  9 

cards.  Method  of    ....  19  22 
Cylinder  and  dofTer  ...  19  23 
English  method  of  num- 
bering card 19  20 

Noggs  and  points  in  card  19  19 

flats 19  22 

Coiler 18  31 

"      head     18  31 

Comb  box 18  30 

Combing  by  the  top    ....  22  34 

Doffer     18  30 

22  25 

Setting  the  doffer 19  69 

"    stripping   ....  19  68 

"top 23  10 

Timing  the  top 23  23 

Comber,   Construction  of  double- 
nip     22  47 

Construction    of    single- 
nip     22  13 

construction    of.   Varia- 
tions in 22  45 

Double-nip 22  47 

Gearing  of  a 22  41 

Management  of  the  ...  23  25 

"          Oiling  and  cleaning  the  .  23  28 

Principal  motions  of  the  22  15 

Purpose  of  double-nip   .  22  47 

Single-nip 22  13 

Speed  of 23  29 

Combers 22  1 

23  1 

Setting  various  parts  of  23  4 

Size  of  gauge  settings  for  23  3 

Combing  by  the  top  comb 22  34 

Double     23  25 

equipment 22  1 

operation  by  the  half-lap  22  22 

Combs,  Flat-stripping 18  24 

Common  rolls 20  1 

Compound  motion 25  3 

Condenser  and  gauge  box 17  1 

Conductors,  Electric 21  27 

Cones,  The 25  13 

Connecting  sections.  Method  of  .   .  20  3 

Constant  for  twist.  Rule  to  find  .   .  26  4 

Constants,  Twist 26  11 

Construction,  Card 18  .      3 

Former  methods  of 

card     19  1 

of  card  clothing     .   .  19  9 
"double-nip 

comber     ....  22  47 

"  drawing  frames  21  IS 

"  fly  frames    ....  24  1 


INDEX 


IX 


Sk. 
Construction  of  singrle-nip  comber   22 
sliver-lap  ma- 
chine   22 

sliver-lap    ma- 
chine   22 

the  breaker  picker    17 
Variations    in 
comber  ...  .22 

Controlling:  speed  of  bobbins    ...    25 

Cotton 14 

American 14 

at  the  mill,  Receipt  of  .   .    .    16 

Baling 14 

Bloom  of 14 

Brown  Egyptian 14 

cards 18 

"      19 

"      19 

characteristics,   Tables    of    14 

Classification  of 14 

cultivation 14 

Dampness  of 14 

Dirt  and  sand  in 14 

Exportation  of 14 

Fair 14 

fiber,  Measurements  of   .   .    14 

Structure  of  the    ...    14 

Ginning  and  baling    ....    14 

Grade  of 14 

Growth  and  development  of  14 
Gulf,  or  New  Orleans    ...    14 

Judging 14 

Long-stapled     14 

Low  middling 14 

Marketing 14 

markets    of    the    United 

States 14 

Medium-stapled 14 

to  long-stapled  .   .    14 

Middling 14 

AI ill  purchases  of 14 

mixing 16 

Varieties  of    ....    16 

Ordinary 14 

pickers 17 

Principal  species  of  ...  .  14 
Quantity  and  quality  of  .  .  14 
regions.  Productive   ....    14 

"       samples 14 

Sea-island 14 

Selection  of 14 

Short-stapled    ........    14 

Staple  of 14 

stock.  Condition  of    ....    16 
Testing  yarns  and  fabrics 
containing 14 


Page 
13 


45 
1 

1 
13 

6 
26 
30 
15 

1 

1 
29 
16 
27 

1 
30 
29 
34 
28 

8 

5 
16 
28 


17 

28 
27 

32 

20 

18 

28 

33 

6 

9 

28 

1 

1 

9 

10 

27 

12 

27 

21' 

29 

1 


Sec.  Page 

Cotton,  Texas 14  15 

Uplands 14  14 

used  in  America 14  12 

yarn  mills 16  2 

"     Production  of    ....    16  2 

Cottons  of  the  world     14  9 

Counts 19  21 

Cover,  Licker 18  16 

Covering  for  rolls.  Leather    ...    20  8 
Method  of  putting  on 

cloth 20  7 

Method  ofputtingon 

leather 20  12 

top  rolls 20  6 

Cradle 23  11 

Creel i-s  28 

Creeling 26  14 

Cultivation,  Cotton 14  1 

Cushion  plate ".   .    22  17 

settings 2;?  9 

Cylinder 22  22 

and  doffer.  Clothing  ...    19  23 

Grinding  the  .    19  44 

end  waste 19  41 

screen 18  26 

Setting  the  ...   .    19  66 

Cylinders,  Card is  16 

D 

Dampness  of  cotton 14  30 

Dead  rolls 19  37 

Deadweighting 20  25 

Defects  of  fly  frames 26  21 

Delivery  of  the  stock 22  37 

roll 22  26 

Timing  the  motions 

of  the 23  22 

Detaching,  Placing    rolls  in    posi- 
tion for 23  20 

position,  Removing  de- 
taching roll  from    .   .    2:?  22 
roll.  Distance  of  blocks 
from  bearings  of    .   .    23  20 
Development  and  growth  of  cotton    14  2 

Device,  Stripping 16  20 

Diameter  of  wire 19  13 

Differential  motions 25  1 

Dimensions  of  cards 18  42 

tiy  frames 24  27 

Dirt  and  sand  in  cotton 14  29 

Doflfer 18  27 

18  40 

and  cylinder.  Clothing  ...    19  23 

Grinding    the    19  44 

beater 16  23 

comb 18  30 


INDEX 


Sec. 

Doffer  comb 22 

"      Setting  the 19 

"      Setting  the 19 

23 

Doffing     26 

Double-bar  traverse  motions  ...    20 

boss  rolls 20 

"       carding 19 

combing 23 

nip  comber 22 

Draft 18 

gear,  Rule  to  find 26 

in  fly  frames 26 

of  a  breaker  picker 17 

intermediate  and  finisher 

pickers 17 

Drafts  of  fly  frames 26 

Draw  box 22 

"     Setting 23 

Drawing  frame,  Arrangement  of  .    21 

Care  of 21 

"  "       gearings 21 

Space  occupied 

by  a 21 

frames     21 

and     railway 

heads 21 

"  "       Management  of  .    21 

"         processes.  Number  of  .    21 

rolls 20 

"     Method    of    driving 

the 24 

"  "     of  a  slubber    ....    24 

"     Settings  of 20 

Driving  bobbin  shaft.s 25 

the  bobbins 24 

"    drawing  rolls 24 

"    spindles 24 

E 

Economy  of  management 19 

Egyptian  cotton,   Brown 14 

Electric  conductors 21 

stop-motion 21 

Emery  wheel     19 

Ends,  Breaking  of 26 

•'      Slack 26 

English  counts 19 

"        method  of  numbering  card 

clothing 19 

type  of    builder 25 

Equipment,  Combing 22 

Evener  adjusting  screw 17 

motion 21 

motions 17 

Exportation  of  cotton 14 


Page 

25 

69 

64 

15 

17 

39 

5 

8 

25 

47 

41 

7 

9 

20 

39 
4 

39 
16 
IS 
3S 
33 

40 
17 

1 
35 
17 

1 

24 
5 
21 
22 
26 
24 
26 


F  Sec. 
Fabrics  and  yarns  containing  cot- 
ton. Testing 14 

Fair  cotton 14 

Feeder,  Automatic 16 

16 

Feeding  and  opening  machine  .   .  16 

pickers,  Methods  of  .    .    .  17 

Two-roll  method  of  .   .   .  18 

Feed-motion 22 

"      plate 18 

"      Setting  the 19 

"      roll 17 

" 18 

and  beater  adjustments  .  17 

Operation  of 17 

"   Setting  the  top 23 

settings 23 

rolls 22 

"      Timing  the 23 

Fiber,  Measurements  of  the  cotton  14 

Structure  of  the  cotton  .   .   .  14 

Fillet 19 

winding  machine 19 

Filleting 19 

Finisher  and  intermediate  pickers  17 
and  intermediate  pickers. 

Draft   of 17 

Flat   card,    Revolving-top 18 

Stationary-top     ....  19 

point  wire 19 

stripping  combs 18 

Flats 18 

18 

"      Clothing 19 

Grinding  the 19 

"      Setting  the 19 

Floor  space  occupied  by  drawing 

frame 21 

of  a  breaker 17 

Fluted  segment 22 

Flyer,   The 24 

Flyers,  Imperfect 26 

Fly  frame.  Rule  to  find  production 

of 26 

"    frames 24 

25 

26 

Care  of 26 

Defects  of 26 

Dimensions  of 24 

Draft  in 26 

Drafts  of 26 

Gearing 24 

Horsepower      required 

to  drive 24 

Management  of  ....  26 


Page 

9 
28 
17 
26 
17 

1 

12 
15 


34 

27 
16 
6 
16 
18 
8 
5 
15 
25 
15 
23 

39 
3 

2 

12 
24 
19 
40 
22 
47 
57 

40 
21 

22 

5 

22 

8 
1 
1 
1 

15 
21 
27 
9 
4 
24 

29 
1 


INDEX 


XI 


Ser.  Page 

Fly  frames,  Oiling 26  19 

Principal  motions  of   .  25  1 

Speed  of 26  12 

Starting 26  9 

Footstep  bearing 24  9 

Formation  of   the  lap 19  8 

Frame,  Arrangement  of  drawing  .  21  18 

Card 18  26 

Care  of  drawing 21  38 

Frames,  Drawing 21  17 

Fly 24  1 

^lanagement  of  drawing  .  21  35 

Frequency  of  stripping  cards  ...  19  33 

Front  knife  plate 18  29 

"      Setting  the   ...  19  69 

Full-bobbin  stop-motion 25  26 

"    lap  stop-motion 22  6 

G 

Gauge  box  and  condenser 17  1 

"       settings   for  combers,  Size 

of 23  3 

Gauges     19  57 

Table  of  A  m  e  r  i  c  a  n  and 

British  wire 19  13 

used  in  setting  combers  .  23  2 

Gear  calculations.  Change    ....  26  5 

"      Index     23  17 

"      Twist     24  24 

(iearing 17  19 

Card 18  .33 

Fly-frame 24  24 

of  a  comber 22  41 

of  a  picker 17  37 

of  the  automatic  feeder    .  16  26 

Gearings,  Drawing-frame 21  33 

Gears,  Change 17  37 

25  19 

Twin 25  18 

Gin,  Knife-roller 14  24 

■■     Macarthy 14  25 

"     Roller 14  24 

••     Saw 14  16 

(Winning  and  baling  cotton 14  16 

Good  middling  cotton 14  28 

ordinary  cotton 14  28 

Gossypium  arboreum 14  1 

barbadense 14  1 

herbaceum 14  1 

hirsutura 14  1 

Grade  of  cotton 14  28 

Grate  bars.  Inclined 17  14 

Grid  bars     17  11 

Grinder.  Horsfall 19  38 

Traverse 19  38 

Grinding 19  36 


Grinding  a  new  card 

Operation  of  .... 

Plow 

Preparation  for   .   . 

rolls 

the  flats 19 

•'    licker 19 

Growth  and  development  of  cotton    14 

Guide,  Traverse 

Gulf,  or  NewOrleens,  cotton 

H 

Hackle  comb  and  brush.   Setting 

the 19 

Half  lap 22 

Hank  clocks 24 

Rule  to  find  average    ....  26 

Head.  Coiler 18 

Principal  parts  of  the   rail- 
way    21 

Herbaceum,  Gossypium 14 

Hirsutum,  Gossypium 14 

Horsehead  motion 25 

Horsepower  and  weight  of  cards  .  18 
required  to  draw  fly 

frames 24 

Horsfall  grinder  .       19 


Sec. 

Page 

19 

46 

19 

44 

19 

12 

19 

40 

19 

36 

19 

47 

19 

54 

14 

2 

24 

5 

14 

14 

Imperfect  flyers 

Incorrect  traverse 

Index  gear 

Indicator,  Speed 

Inserting  twist.  Method  of 


Intermediate  and  finisher  pickers    17 
finisher  pickers, 
Draft  of    ...    17 


Jack-shaft 24  24 

Judging  cotton 14  27 

K 

Knife  beater 17  9 

"      Nipper     22  19 

"      plate.  Back 18  19 

Front 18  29 

"      Setting  the 19  67 

roller  gin 14  25 

Knives,  Mote     18  14 


Lap,  Formation  of  the 

'■     Half 

"     head    

"     rack    

"     roll 


Weight  of 1' 


17 

7 

17 

17 

17 

16 

17 

41 

Xll 


INDEX 


Laps,  Causes  of  uneven 

Lay  gear.  Rule  to  find  the 

Leather  covering  for  rolls 

Method  of  put- 
ting on   ...    . 

detaching  roll     

detaching  roll.  Setting  the 

top  roll  from 

Lever-weighting 

Licker 


cover    

Grinding  the 

screen  

Setting  the  .... 

Setting  the ^ 

Licking 

Lifting  apron     

Long-stapled  cotton 

Medium  to 

Loose-boss  rolls 

Low  middling  cotton 


Sec. 
17 
26 
20 


M 

Macarthy  gin 

Machine,  Feeding  and  opening    .    . 

Fillet-winding 

Ribbon-lap 

Sliver-lap 

Machinery,  Proper  care  of     .   .    .   . 

Machines,  Arrangement  of    ...    . 

Setting  of  sliver-lap    .   . 

Settings  of  ribbon-lap    . 

Making-up  pieces 

Management,  Economy  of    .... 

of  card  room  .... 

"  "  drawing  frames  . 

"  "  fly  frames    .... 

"  the  comber  room 

Marketing  cotton 

Markets  of  the  United  States,  Cot- 
ton   

Measurements  of  cotton  fiber  .   .   . 

Measuring  motion 

Mechanical  stop-motions 

Mechanism   for  controlling  speed 

of  bobbins 

Medium-stapled  cotton 

to  long-stapled  cotton   .   . 

Metallic  rolls 

Method  of  driving  the  bobbins    .   . 
the    drawing 

rolls 

the  spindles   .   . 

"  feeding.  Two-roll     .   .   . 

"        "  inserting  twist 


Pase 
40 


Sec.  Page 

Method  of  mixing 16  8 

Methods  of  driving  bobbin  shafts  .  25  22 

stripping  cards   ....  19  32 

Middling  cotton 14  28 

fair  cotton 14  28 

Mill  purchases  of  cotton 14  33 

"     Receipt  of  cotton  at  the    ...  16  6 

Mills,  Object  of  cotton-yarn  ...  16  2 

Mixing  cotton 16  6 

Method  of 16  S 

Size  of  the 16  7 

varieties  of  cotton 16  9 

Mote  knives 18  14 

Motion,  Compound 25  3 

Double-bar  traverse   ...  20  39 

"          Evener 21  7 

Horsehead 25  22 

Measuring 17  32 

Piecing-up 22  '25 

Vertical  and  angle  shaft  .  25  23 

Motions,  Builder 25  14 

Clearers  and  traverse  .   .  20  33 

Differential 25  1 

Evener 17  25 

of  fly  frames 25  1 

"   the  comber 22  15 

"     delivery     roll. 

Timing  the  .   .   .  23  22 

Traverse 20  35 

Weight-relieving      ....  20  32 

N 

Needle-ground  wire 19  12 

point  wire 19  12 

New  card,  Grinding  a 19  46 

Orleans,  or  Gulf,  cotton  ...  14  14 

Nipper  knife 22  19 

rods.  Adjusting  the  ....  23  12 

Nippers 22  17 

Nogg 19  17 

Noggs  and  points  in  card  clothing  19  19 

Non-conductors 21  27 

Numbering  card  clothing 19  20 

Number  of  drawing  processes    .    .  21  17 

O 

Object  of  combing 22  1 

Objects  of  carding 18  1 

Oiling  and  cleaning  pickers   ....  17  42 

the  comber  .   .  23  28 

fly  frames 26  19 

Opener 16  27 

Opening  and  feeding  machine  ...  16  17 

Operation  of  feed  roll 17  27 

"    grinding 19  44 

'■   ribbon-lap  machine  .  22  8 


INDEX 


Xlll 


Operation  of  single-nip  comber  .  .  'Ji 
"  sliver-lap  machine  .  .  '21 
"  stripping  cards  ...  19 
"  the  breaker  picker  .  .  17 
"  ■'  electric  stop-mo- 
tion   21 

Operations  of  the  rolls -2 

Ordinary  cotton 14 


P 


Pans.  Setting  sliver 
Passage  of  the  stock 


Picker.  Breaker 

Draft  of  a  breaker 

Gearing  of  a 

Objects  of  the  breaker   .    . 

rooms 

Pickers 

"        Breaker 

Care  of 

Cotton 

Draft  of  intermediate  and 

finisher 

Intermediate  and  finisher  . 
Methods  of  feeding  .... 

Pieces,  Making-up 

Piecing  of  roving 

"         up  motion 

Placing  detaching  and  top  rolls  in 

position 

Plate,  Back  knife 

Cushion 

Front  knife 

Setting  of  the  back  knife  .    . 

Plow-grinding 

Points,  Adjusting 

and  noggs  in  card  clothing 

Poker  bar    

Porcupine  beater 

Position,  Placing  detaching  and  top 

rolls  in 

Preparation  for  grinding 

Principal  species  of  cotton 

Principles  of  carding 

Production  of  a  fly  frame 

"    the  card 

Quality  of 

Quantity  of 

Purchases  of  cotton.  Mill 

Purpose  of  double-nip  comber    .   . 

Q 

Quality  and  quantity  of  cotton    .   . 

of  production 

Quantity  of  production 

and  quality  of  cotton   .   . 


Sfc.  PaRf                                              K  Sec.  Page 

22        13          Rack,  Lap 17  17 

22          3          Rail,  Stripping 17  13 

19       34  Railway  head,  Pr  in  c  i  pal  parts  of 

17          r>                              the 21  3 

heads  and  drawing  frames  21  1 

Recipes  for  roll  varnish 20  13 

Regulation  of  air-current 17  39 

Revolving  brush 23  14 

top  flat  card IS  3 

Ribbon-lap  machine 22  S 

machines,  Settings  of  22  11 

Rigid-blade  beater 17  9 

Rods.  Adjusting  the  nipper  ....  23  12 

Roll,  Cleaning  the  stripping  ....  19  3-5 

Delivery 22  2t) 

"      Lap     17  IH 

Leather  detaching      22  27 

"      Top 22  29 

varnish.  Recipes  for 20  13 

Roller-and-clearer  card 19  -5 

cloth 20  7 

"       gin 14  24 

Rolls,  Advantage  of  metallic    .   .  20  17 

Bottom 20  1 

Calender 22  37 

Care  of 1f>  19 

Common 20  1 

Covering  top 20  6 

Dead 19  37 

Double-boss 20  .5 

Drawing 20  1 

Grinding 19  36 

Leather  covering  for  ....  20  8 

Loose-boss 20  ,5 

'■      Metallic 20  15 

Method  of  driving  the  draw- 
ing       24  24 

of  a  slubber.  Drawing    ...  24  .5 

Operations  of  the 22  29 

Rules  governing  setting  of  .  20  is 

Scouring 20  39 

Setting  and  weighting     ...  20  IS 

top 20  24 

Settings  of  drawing     ....  20  21 

Single-boss 20  .t 

Smooth  calender 17  16 

Solid-boss     20  5 

"      Top 20  4 

Room,  Management  of  the  comber  23  2.5 

Rooms,  Location  of  picker  ....  16  14 

Picker 16  13 

Roving   on    the   bobbin.  Winding 

14          9                             the 24  17 

19        70                "        Piecing  of 26  16 

19       72  "        Running   over  and    under 

14         9                           of  the 26  22 


XIV 


INDEX 


Sec.  Page 

Roving  scales 26  24 

Tension  of     26  13 

Rule  to  find  average  hank 26  9 

"  find    production   of    a    fly 

frame 26  8 

"  find  the  constant  for  twist    26  4 

"  find  the  draft  gear    ....    26  7 

"  find  the  lay  gear 26  8 

find  the  length  of  filleting 

for  cylinder  dofTer  ....    10  2.5 
"  find    the    number    of    sec- 
tions of  a  mixing     ....    16  8 
"  find  the  points  per  square 

foot  of  card  clothing     .    .    19  17 
"  find  the  speed  of  the  bob- 
bins     36  4 

"  find  the  tension  gear    ...    26  7 

'■  find  the  twist  gear 26  7 

Rules  governing  setting  of  rolls  .   .    20  IS 
to  find  the  twists   or  turns 

per  inch 26  3 

Running    over  and  under  of    the 

roving 26  22 

S 

Samples,  Cotton 14  27 

Sand  and  dirt  in  cotton 14  29 

Saw  gin 14  16 

Scale  box 17  2.5 

Scales,  Roving 26  24 

Scouring  rolls 20  39 

Screen.  Cylinder 18  26 

Licker 18  16 

Setting  the  cylinder  .   ...    19  66 

"    licker 19  67 

Screw,   Evener  adjusting 17  35 

Sea-island   cotton 14  12 

Sections,  Method  of  connecting  .    .    20  3 

Segment,  Fluted 22  22 

Selection  of  cotton 14  27 

■■  skins 20  10 

Self-weighting 20  25 

Setting  and  timing  combers  ....    23  1 

"    weighting  rolls    ....    20  is 

combers 23  2 

draw  box 23  16 

of  rolls.  Rules   governing.    20  18 

sliver  pans 23  16 

the  back  knife  plate  ....    19  67 

"    brush  and  hackle  comb    19  69 

"    card 19  .56 

"    cylinder  screen   ....    19  66 

"    doffer 19  64 

23  15 

comb 19  69 

"    feed-plate 19  66 


Setting  the  flats 

"    front  knife  plate  .   .   .   . 

"    grid  bars 

"    licker 

screen  

"    stripping  comb   .   .   .   . 

"    top  comb 

"    top  feed-roll 

"top  roll  from  leather 
detaching  roll  .... 

"  various  parts  of  comb- 
ers   


Sec. 

Page 

19 

57 

19 

68 

17 

12 

19 

64 

19 

67 

19 

68 

23 

10 

23 

16 

23        21 


top  rolls 

Settings,  Cushion  plate 

Feed-roll 

for  combers.   Size    of 

gauge    ,   

Minor 

of  drawing  rolls 

"  ribbon-lap  machines  . 

"  sliver-lap   machines  . 

Shafts.  Methods  of  driving  bobbin 

Short-stapled  cotton 

Side-ground  wire 

Single-boss  rolls 

nip  comber 

Size  of  gauge  settings  for  combers 

"  the  mixing 

Sizing 

Skins,  Selection  of 

Slack  ends 

Sliver 

lap  machine 

"     machines,  Settings  of  .    . 

pans.  Setting 

stop-motion 

Slubber,  Drawing  rolls  of  a  ...    . 

The 

Smooth  calender  rolls 

Solid-boss  rolls 

Speed  of  fly  frames 

Spindles,  Method  of  driving  the  .   . 

Splitting 

Species  of  cotton.  Principal  .... 

Speed  calculations     

indicator 

of  bobbins.  Mechanisms  for 

controlling 

"  comber     

"  the  bobbins 

Speeders 

Spindle,  The 

Staple  of  cotton 

Starting  fly  frames 

Stationary-top  flat  card 

Stock,  Central 


23 

4 

20 

24 

23 

9 

23 

6 

23 

3 

23 

12 

20 

21 

22 

11 

22 

6 

25 

22 

14 

21 

19 

T? 

20 

5 

22 

13 

23 

3 

16 

7 

26 

23 

20 

10 

26 

21 

18 

2 

22 

3 

22 

6 

23 

16 

22 

6 

24 

5 

24 

4 

17 

16 

20 

5 

26 

12 

24 

26 

17 

40 

14 

1 

18 

39 

19 

75 

25 

1 

23 

29 

26 

4 

24 

2 

24 

8 

14 

29 

26 

9 

19 

2 

22 

22 

INDEX 


XV 


Sec. 

Page 

stock,  Condition  of  cotton     .... 

16 

1 

Delivery  of  the 

22 

37 

Passage  of  the 

22 

14 

"     " 

24 

4 

Stop-motion,  Electric 

21 

26 

Full-bobbin 

2,'i 

26 

Full-lap 

22 

6 

"           "        Operation  of  the  elec- 

tric     

21 

28 

"     motions 

21 

23 

25 

26 

Sliver 

22 

6 

Stripping  cards 

19 

32 

comb.  Setting  the  .... 

19 

68 

device 

16 

20 

rail 

17 

13 

roll.  Cleaning  the  .... 

19 

35 

Structure  of  the  cotton  fiber     .   .   . 

14 

5 

T 

Table    of   American    and    British 

wire  gauges 

19 

13 

'i     cushion  plate  settings   . 

23 

9 

"    dimensions    of    fly 

frames 

24 

28 

"     English  counts 

19 

22 

"     feed-roll  settings  .... 

23 

6 

"         "    gauge  settings  for  com- 

23 

3 

"         "    horsepower  required 

to  draw  fly  frames  .    . 

24 

29 

"    long-stapled  cotton    .   . 

14 

17 

"     medium-stapled  cotton 

14 

20 

"         "           "        to  long-stapled 

cotton    .   .    . 

14 

18 

"         "     noggs    and    points    in 

card  clothing    .   .   .   . 

19 

19 

"         "     settings  of  drawing  rolls 

20 

21 

"     short-stapled  cotton  .   . 

Xi 

21 

"     twist  constants     .... 

26 

11 

'"         "    weights  of  lap 

17 

41 

Tables  of  cotton  characteristics 

14 

16 

Teeth     

19 
26 

11 

Tension  gear.  Rule  to  find  the     .   . 

of  roving 

26 

13 

Testing  yarns  and  fabrics  contain- 

ing cotton 

14 

9 

Texas  cotton     

14 

15 

o-^ 

17 

and  setting  combers    .   .   . 

23 

1 

the  feed 

23 

18 

"    motions  of  the  delivery 

roll 

0-^ 

22 

"    nippers 

23 

18 

"    top  comb 

23 

23 

Tin,  Brush 

22 

2P 

Top  comb.  Combing  by  the  .... 

Setting  the 

Timing  the 

ground  wire 

roll 

"    in  position,  Placing  the  .   . 
"    from  leather  detaching 

roll,  Setting  the 

"    weighting 

rolls 

Covering 

"     Setting     

Traverse  grinder 

guide . 

Incorrect •. 

motions  ...       

"  "         Double-bar     .   . 

of  bobbins 

Trunk,  Horizontal  cleaning  .... 

Plain  conducting 

Trunking      

Trunks.  Inclined  cleaning  .   . 
Turns  or  twists  per  inch.  To  find 

Twin  gears     

Twist     

gear 

Rule  to  find 

Method  of  inserting     .... 

Ru,le  to  find  the  constant  for 

Twists  or  turns  per  inch      ..... 

Two-roll  method  of  feeding  .... 

Type  of  builder,  American    .... 

English 

Types  of  beaters     

U 

Uneven  laps.  Causes  of 17 

United  States,  Cotton  markets  of 

the 14 

Uplands  cotton 14 


Variations  in  comber  construction  22 
Varieties  of  cotton,  Mi,xing  differ- 
ent      16 

Varnishing 20 

Vertical  and  angle  shaft  motion  .    .  25 

W 

Waste 18 

23 

chute 22 

Cylinder-end 19 

Weight  and  horsepower  of  cards  18 

relieving  motions 20 

'Veighting  and  setting  rolls   ....  20 


Sff. 

/'age 

22 

34 

23 

10 

23 

23 

19 

12 

22 

29 

23 

20 

23 

21 

20 

24 

20 

4 

20 

6 

20 

24 

19 

38 

24 

5 

26 

22 

20 

35 

20 

39 

24 

21 

16 

28 

16 

28 

16 

28 

16 

30 

26 

3 

25 

18 

26 

10 

24 

.    24 

26 

7 

24 

16 

26 

4 

26 

3 

18 

12 

25 

16 

25 

20 

17 

8 

XVI 


INDEX 


Weighting:.  Top-roll 20 

Weights  of  lap 17 

Wheel,  Carborundum 19 

"       Emery 19 

Winding  the  roving  on  the  bobbin  24 

Wire,  Chisel-point 19 

Diameter  of 19 

Flat-point 19 

Needle-ground 19 

point 19 


Sec.  Page  Sec.  Page 

24          Wire,  Side-ground 19  12 

41              "      Top-ground 19  12 

55         Wiregauges,  British  and  American  19  13 

54          World,  Cottons  of  the 14  9 

Y 

Yarn-preparation  processes     ...  16  1 
Production  of  cotton     ...  16  2 
Yarns  and  fabrics  containing  cot- 
ton, Testing 14  9 


cyr/^-so 


